Effect of Temperature and Pressure on the Behavior of Poly(ε-caprolactone) in the Presence of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Poly(epsilon-caprolactone) is used for biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability. Its processing with supercritical carbon dioxide represents a sustainable alternative to the classical methods involving toxic and environmentally hazardous organic solvents. In the present work, the behavior of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) in the presence of supercritical CO, has been studied. The influence of CO, on the melting point and crystallinity content of the polymer was analyzed, the solubility and diffusivity of gas into poly(epsilon-caprolactone) was measured, and the experimental data were correlated using Sanchez-Lacombe equation of state and PC SAFT model. Supercritical CO, was then used for foaming poly(epsilon-caprolactone) to obtain tissue engineering scaffolds, and the connection between process parameters (temperature, pressure), gas solubility in the polymer, and foam morphology was studied.