The study of thermal and gross morphologic properties of polyglycolic acid upon annealing and degradation treatments.

The objective of this study is to alter the fiber morphology of a linear aliphatic polyester, polyglycolic acid, by annealing treatment and to examine the changes of its degradation properties. The annealing was done at 150 degrees C, 170 degrees C, and 190 degrees C, and the specimens were annealed in four different strained conditions, freely hung, 0, 1, and 10%. After annealing treatments, the specimens were subject to in vitro hydrolytic degradation by immersing them in phosphate-buffer solution of pH 7.4 at 37 degrees C for up to 28 days. The thermal properties and gross morphology of the specimens were obtained. It was found that annealing treatments resulted in initial higher levels of crystallinity, which, in turn, influenced the hydrolytic degradation of the fiber. Among all the annealing conditions, the freely hung specimens annealed at 190 degrees C exhibited the most pronounced annealing effect on hydrolytic degradation, and was consistent with the observed gross morphologic changes. The change in the characteristics of fiber structure (i.e., the return to the stage of less oriented conformation upon freely hung annealing) was thought to be the cause.