Polymer Degradation and Stability
Article in Press, Accepted Manuscript - Note to users
Stabilisation of poly(lactic acid) by polycarbodiimide
Polymer
Article in Press, Accepted Manuscript - Note to users
Synthesis and characterization of TPO-PLA copolymer and its behavior as compatibilizer for PLA/TPO blends
Enzymatic Preparation of Novel Thermoplastic di-Block Copolyesters Containing Poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] and Poly(ε-Caprolactone) Blocks via Ring-Opening Polymerization
Shiyao Dai and Zhi Li*
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117576
Received February 9, 2008
Revised March 30, 2008
Polymer Degradation and Stability
Article in Press, Accepted Manuscript - Note to users
Effect of Type of Peroxide on Cross-linking of Poly(L-lactide)
Sequential Interpenetrating Polymer Networks Produced from Vegetable Oil Based Polyurethane and Poly(methyl methacrylate)
Xiaohua Kong and Suresh S. Narine*
Alberta Lipid Utilization Program, Department of Agricultural Food and Nutritional Science, 4-10 Agriculture/Forestry Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5
Received March 31, 2008
Revised May 26, 2008
Dr KB Lee, professor of chemical engineering at Missouri S&T, and his team are investigating super-biodegradable plastic recipes made up of fillers, such as starch and fibres. Those natural building blocks make it possible for living organisms to break down waste material. Not only do these fillers accelerate the decomposition, but they also reduce the cost in a variety of commercial applications.
Lee’s team is experimenting with renewable polymers such as glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel manufacturing, and polyactic acid, a byproduct of ethanol fermentation. By combining and creating blends of polymers, the researchers believe the formulations will be suitable for applications such as agricultural films, bottles, biomedical and drug delivery devices.
See http://biopol.free.fr/?p=86
–>Cargill has broken ground on a $22-million BiOH™ brand polyols manufacturing plant in Chicago. The new production facility will be the first world-scale biobased polyols plant. Expected to be operational before the end of the year, the new plant will produce Cargill’s BiOH soybean-based polyols – an ingredient that replaces petroleum-based chemicals traditionally used in polyurethane products, such as flexible foam cushioning for furniture, bedding and automotive products.
See http://biopol.free.fr/?p=84
Introduction didactique sur les bioplastiques et biopolymères
Que sont les biopolymères et les bioplastiques?
Types de biopolymères
Comment fabrique-t-on les biopolymères et les bioplastiques?
Biotechnologie, biopolymères et bioplastiques
Biopolymères et bioplastiques - Champs de recherche actuels
Développement durable et biopolymères et bioplastiques
“Industrie chimique & Développement durable“, c’est le thème choisi par la veille documentaire proposée par la Fédération Française pour les Sciences de la Chimie sur son site.
Une étudetrès intéressante sur les plus gros projets autour des biomatériaux en France est également disponible à cette adresse.
Le Conseil National de l’Emballage (CNE) vient d’émettre une note sur LES MATÉRIAUX PLASTIQUES ISSUS DE RESSOURCES RENOUVELABLES & EMBALLAGES « BIODÉGRADABLES ».
(…)
- La mise en marché de nouveaux matériaux plastiques issus de ressources renouvelables, dénommés « biomatériaux » ou « bioplastiques », ou d’emballages plastiques dits « biodégradables », nécessite une clarification.(…)
Dans ce contexte, les membres du Conseil National de l’Emballage ont décidé d’élaborer une position commune sur le sujet et d’en communiquer la synthèse aux pouvoirs publics et au grand public.
La note est rédigée en l’état actuel des connaissances ; placée dans le temps, elle sera mise à jour au rythme des innovations et des progrès techniques, en particulier ceux liés à l’évolution de la chimie du végétal. Elle se réfère à un dossier plus complet disponible au Conseil National de l’Emballage.
Brazil’s ‘Organic’ Plastics
As oil prices soar, the country is aiming to become a global hub for plastics made from plant-based materials, including sugar cane
Try to imagine a plastics factory. You’re probably seeing an industrial eyesore belching smoke and fire into the sky at a city’s edge. But Dow Chemical (DOW) and other large plastics makers have a more bucolic vision of what some plants will look like in the future, and they’re heading to Brazil to build them.
The “factories” they have in mind are more like farms: A sugar cane plantation, with 11-foot stalks for miles around, surrounding a plastics plant that runs entirely on cane, emits a fraction of the greenhouse gas spewed by conventional plants, and, by the way, generates enough extra electricity to light a city of 500,000. Dow plans to open its first such Brazilian plant in 2011, and says its cane-based product will compete favorably with conventional petroleum-based plastics if oil stays above $45 a barrel, just a third of its current price. São Paulo-based Braskem (BAK), Latin America’s top plastics maker, is building its own plant for 2010 and expects its “green plastics” to sell for 30% more than conventional varieties.
Today about 9% of the world’s oil production is burned making plastics, which itself is a $350 billion-a-year business. But as oil prices soar, Brazil, a country where sugar cane ethanol already fuels most cars, is aiming to become a global hub for organic plastics—that is, those made from plant-based materials. Brazil’s organic plastics are often labeled “bioplastics” since they are made from plants, but while recyclable, they don’t melt into the environment when discarded, like biodegradable plastics (BusinessWeek.com, 6/19/08) do.
No Replacement for Traditional Plastics
Already the No. 8 producer of petro-based plastics, Brazil will soon be the largest producer of organic ones, according to Dow and Braskem. Both companies say they’ve mastered technologies to turn sugar cane into polyethylene, the most popular plastic. By 2012, about 10% of Brazil’s plastic will come from cane instead of petroleum.
To be sure, the bioplastics business won’t displace traditional plastics anytime soon. The 1.2 billion pounds of organic plastic that Dow and Braskem plan to produce in Brazil by 2012 will meet less than 1% of world plastic demand, which itself is growing by 5% a year. But both companies, along with Belgium’s Solvay (SOLB.br), Canada’s Nova Chemicals (NCX), and Brazil’s Petrobras (PBR), hope to build more such plants (BusinessWeek.com, 5/28/08) in the country.
The drive for alternative plastics is being fueled by oil prices, eco-minded consumers, and the economic success of oil substitutes such as Brazilian ethanol. Organic plastics have been around for ages, but high costs and pesky features in some of them—such as a tendency to melt when exposed to low heat—meant they posed little threat to the petroplastics that are used in everything from Zip-Loc bags to Barbie dolls and condoms.
“Out of the Boutique and into the Mainstream”
Jeff Bishop, an analyst at San Francisco’s Beacon Equity Research, believes alternative plastics may quickly capture 20% of the market if oil prices continue rising. Braskem has a more conservative outlook, seeing them taking over perhaps 10% by 2020.
Dow raised its global plastics prices by 20% on June 1, blaming high costs of its energy and feedstocks, which rose 42% in the first quarter. Those items account for about half of plastic’s manufacturing costs. As oil trades near $135 a barrel, local sugar cane ethanol, a basic ingredient of Brazil’s new plastics—sells for around half that, or $70 a barrel. By converting ethanol to plastic for export, Brazil could also avoid steep tariffs imposed on its biofuels in the U.S. and Europe, where ethanol from grains costs more than twice as much to make as it does in Brazil. “Brazil will bring green plastics out of the boutique and into the mainstream,” says Paulo Schirch, Brazil director for Solvay, which plans to make some of its own plastic in Brazil using ethanol, sea salt, and hydropower.
At Dow, the process involves fermenting cane juice into ethanol and heating it into a gas. The gas then undergoes polymerization, which is the chemical reaction that creates plastics. Sugar cane leftovers known as bagasse are burned to power the plant and generate surplus electricity to power towns nearby. A natural fertilizer byproduct, known as vinasse, helps grow more cane.
Should Sugar Be Used for Plastics?
Not everyone believes that sugar cane should be used for plastics. Dow and Braskem plan to burn 300 million gallons of ethanol in 2012, around 6% of Brazil’s current output. Critics say using edible crops for energy has fueled the runup in global food prices. Some say cane farming is pushing Brazil’s agricultural frontier north into the Amazon forest, and that pre-harvest cane-burning, a common practice, lifts Brazil’s carbon emissions.
And, like conventional plastic, Brazil’s cane plastic won’t break down easily in the environment. That which isn’t recycled may end up in landfills, or worse, swirling around the Great Garbage Patch, a Pacific Ocean vortex that eventually sucks in large volumes of plastic floating at sea.
Dow and Braskem defend their plans. “Our whole industry agrees that plastics have to be more sustainable,” says Mauro Gregorio, head of alternative feedstocks at Dow. “There’s no effort to fool the public.”
Wall Street: Already a Player
At least for now, Brazil’s green plastics enjoy several advantages over other bioplastics. The plant-based materials are as resilient as petroplastic and may cost significantly less to make, while many other bioplastics are far more expensive, says Antonio Morschbaker, a chemical engineer at Braskem. Bioplastics like Mirel, made by Cambridge (Mass.)-based Metabolix (MBLX), are painstakingly cultivated from vats of mutant bacteria that consume corn. Mirel, which decomposes nicely in most environments, is expected to cost around $2 per pound, while Brazil’s green plastic may sell for less than 40¢ per pound.
Dow plans to team with Crystalsev, a Brazilian cane processor partially owned by Goldman Sachs (GS), to build a 770 million-pounds-per-year green plastics plant in southeast Brazil. The companies won’t discuss cost, but Brazilian press reports put the figure at close to $1 billion. Braskem says its first plant, in Rio Grande do Sul State of southern Brazil, will cost up to $300 million and make 440 million pounds a year. Braskem says its customers, ranging from toy companies to water bottle makers, have already asked to buy three times more sugar cane plastic than its first plant will produce.
The tough part, Gregorio says, may be cutting and pasting the Brazilian model to other regions where ethanol is expensive. Dow is experimenting with bio-engineered crops to see if that’s possible, but Gregorio thinks the biggest nonfossil fuel plastic works will be built in tropical countries, at least in the near term.
“Energy Cane”
Morschbaker has a longstanding connection to cane: His family owned Brazil’s first mechanized sugar mill in the 1870s in Rio de Janeiro. But the Braskem engineer has always been drawn to uses of the plant beyond sweetener. “It should really be called energy cane,” he says.
He thinks concerns about Brazil’s cane farming have been overblown. By converting just 5% of lands now used for cattle grazing to sugar cane, he claims, Brazil could make enough plastic to fuel a sixth of world demand without sacrificing any trees. Producers in São Paulo State, Brazil’s sugar cane heartland, say they have been mechanizing the harvest and will entirely phase out crop burning by 2017.
Morschbaker muses about some of the oddities that could result from organically derived plastics: Astroturf made of actual grass, for instance. Liquor bottles made of alcohol, gas tanks fashioned from ethanol, even bulletproof vests that originate in a garden. Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has suggested an even more ambitious goal: In April, he challenged the nation’s automakers to make a roadworthy car from sugar cane plastics. The only drawback he mentioned: “People may try to lick it.”
Ordinary plastic and recycled plastic can now be made oxo-biodegradable. This is done by including d2w additive (see www.degradable.net) which makes them degrade, then biodegrade, on land or at sea, in the light or the dark, in heat or cold, in whatever timescale is required, leaving no fragments, no methane and no harmful residues. d2w oxo-biodegradable products meet American Standard 6954, and is made from a by-product of oil refining which used to be wasted.
As oxo-bio is made with the same machines and workforce as ordinary plastic there is little or no additional cost, and no need to change suppliers.
This new venture was officially launched on 16th June at the Dusit Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road at 12:00 noon in the presence of the UAE Minister of Environment and Water, HE Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad and other dignitaries and under the sponsorship of Dubai Municipality, Al Safeer Group, Aswaaq, Emirates Environmental Group, Marks and Spencer and Fujairah Plastics.
Winston Pryce, General Manager - Eco-Polymers said:
‘We are delighted to have entered into this contract and now look forward to working closely with Symphony, all factories, end users and other concerned parties, to ensure that d2w oxo-biodegradable additives become the products of choice in our collective effort to solve the plastic pollution problem in the Middle East.’
Michael Laurier, Chief Executive of Symphony Environmental Technologies plc, said, ‘We are pleased to have concluded this agreement, as it provides the framework for effective and comprehensive marketing of our d2w oxo-biodegradable products in the Middle East. We now look forward to working with Eco-polymers to implement all phases of the project, to ensure that our products are delivered competitively and efficiently to the marketplace.’
Japanese automaker Mazda has signed a collaborative research agreement with Hiroshima University to develop a range of polypropylene bioplastics for automotive use from non-food derived cellulosic biomass.
According to Mazda, the project will use so-called “second generation” bioplastics manufacturing technology – which makes use of non-edible high cellulose content vegetable matter such as plant stalks or wood shavings – to create a range of bioplastics that will not risk competition with food production.
The target date to have a cellulosic-derived bioplastics material ready for use in car components is 2013.
“Development of a non-food-based bioplastic made from sustainable plant resources has great potential in the fight against global warming, and can help allay global food supply concerns,” said Seita Kanai, Mazda director and senior executive officer in charge of R&D.
The project will focus on designing a process for production of a polypropylene resin with the strength and durability required for car bumper and instrument panel applications, Kanai continued, and will involve converting cellulosic biomass to ethanol and then investigating various blends of ethylene and propylene.
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) will also be taking part in the bioplastic project. Mazda’s previous bioplastic research project resulted in the development of a PLA-based fabric for use in seating and a number of improved heat resistance compounds, which have been showcased in the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid concept car, which the company hopes to make available in Japan later this year.
http://www.canplastics.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=86046&issue=06232008
The ‘Mazda Bioplastic Project‘ is an industry-academia-government collaboration aiming to use the new bioplastic in vehicles by 2013.
Mazda Motor Corporation signed a collaborative research agreement with Hiroshima University to launch the “Mazda Bioplastic Project.” The project aims to develop a bioplastic from non-food-based cellulosic biomass and have it ready for use in vehicles by 2013.
Ithaca, N.Y.-based Novomer, a developer of biodegradable plastics, polymers and other chemicals, announced today that it released its first product, a polypropylene carbonate sacrificial binder.
The company said its polypropylene carbonate burns cleaner, more uniformly and at lower temperatures than currently available products.
Sacrificial binders are used in production to provide mechanical strength to ensure uniform consistency, and for solidification or adhesion during manufacturing processes, according to Novomer.
“We believe that NB-180 is the cleanest-burning binder available, and demand is very strong for these types of materials in clean-room technologies,” said Fox Holt, product manager at Novomer.
“As products become smaller and smaller, manufacturing processes become increasingly exact. NB-180 can help deliver the precision required in these critical operations.”
Novomer said application areas include advanced ceramics, microelectronics, nanotechnology, metal brazing and fuel cells.
Last November, Novomer announced that it raised $6.6 million in Series A funding. Physic Ventures and Flagship Ventures co-led the round of financing, joined by DSM Venturing (see Solar and biofuel deals lead the day).
Novomer said its new NB-180 polymer was developed using its catalyst technology, which enables the production of polymers and plastics using greenhouse gases, reducing the need for non-renewable petroleum products as feedstocks.
The company said the resulting materials are 30 percent to 50 percent carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide by weight.
Novomer said NB-180 is more than 40 percent carbon dioxide by weight.
| Bioplastics | |
| December 03 2008 - December 04 2008 | |
| Sofitel Hotel, Munich, Germany | |
|
Sustainability tops the agenda for every business today. We all need to be greener and bio-sourcing sounds like an ideal way to go about it.
Now in its 10th year, EPN’s Bioplastics conference is the longest running event in this industry and has been critically tracking innovations in this developing market for a decade, providing delegates with a rare opportunity to find out what bioplastics can and cannot do for your business.
The Bioplastics conference provides an independent perspective on this industry, exploring performance and capacity limitations, sustainability of bioplastics production, competition with food stuffs, issues of biodegradability and recycling, and consumer acceptance of genetic modification. This is THE bioplastics conference for all potential processors and users of bioplastics.
This year’s conference will also host the third Bioplastics Awards, which recognise innovation and achievement in the development, processing and marketing of bioplastics. If you would like to speak at the conference, please email lmather@crain.com If you would like to find out more about sponsorship opportunities, please email ltounjer@crain.com |
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| Add to Outlook | |
13/06/2008
European Bioplastics, the representation of the European bioplastics industry, announces the 3rd European Bioplastics Conference. Taking place November 5-6, 2008, in Berlin, it is the leading event for recent technical, economic and po
itical develop-ments of the bioplastics industry. A table top exhibition featuring materials, products and innovations takes place simultaneously.
With 315 delegates, 45 speakers and latest innovations of 26 exhibitors the last year’s conference in Paris showed the huge relevance of the promising industry. The association is expecting further growth this year.
The 3rd European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin will present the latest issues, innovations, market achievements and policy developments in the industrial and environmental applications of bioplastics. It will also provide exceptional networking, produ
t exhibition and partnership opportunities. This international conference will bring together academic, government and business leaders from around the globe for a dynamic two day event.
The conference programme will include invited keynote speeches from politicians to market leaders as well as selected lectures. Topics varying from economical, environmental to technical perspectives will overview the current situation of the bioplastics
industry.
3rd European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin, November 5-6, 2008 — interpack Trade Fair
There are growing concerns about the depletion of non-renewable raw materials and increasing consumer pressure for more environmentally friendly consumerism. Those with a hand in industrial and packaging applications need to be seen to be green and biopolymers could be the answer.
Biopolymers Symposium 2008 will encapsulate the entire life cycle of biopolymers in industrial and packaging applications. Through real life case studies and revealing presentations from key industry leaders; you’ll appreciate the bigger picture, from production through to the waste stream. This valuable conference will provide you with the tools to evaluate how to capitalize on the future market in biopolymers and make it work for your business.
Developing effective, commercially viable biopolymers is one of the greatest challenges facing the industrial and packaging industries today. As technology and material developments progress, more trials and implementations have been made, and there are far more practical questions being raised, such as; what is the true environmental impact in the long term? At this year’s Biopolymers Symposium you’ll get the answers to these questions and more, as we go beyond the hype of presenting a mass of new materials and applications, and show case studies and real world examples.
Co-Chaired by
John Kalkowski, Editorial Director, Packaging Digest and Converting Magazines, US
Dr Paul Fowler, Director, Welsh Institute for Natural Resources, Bangor University, UK
Michel Huneault, Industrial Materials Institute, National Research Council Canada, Canada
Chad Smith, Manager Sustainability Initiatives, Business and Product Development Department, Earthbound Farm, US
Anne Johnson, Director, Sustainable Packaging Coalition, US
Jack Miller, Senior Consultant-North America, Pira International, US
Edward Kosior, Managing Director, Nextek Ltd, UK
This is your chance in 2008 to discover the latest developments in this evolving market at The Future of Biopolymers!
Exhibits and Sponsorship: IntertechPira’s Biopolymers Symposium offers an excellent opportunity to increase your visibility before a highly-qualified audience of key decision makers. Depending on your goals and the level of sponsorship required, a benefits package can be designed to target a narrow audience or a broad group and may include event recognition as well as publicity, marketing and promotional opportunities, and complimentary event passes. We also offer tabletop exhibit space and advertising in the conference proceedings. To learn more, contact:
Brian Santos
Tel: +1 207 781 9618
Fax: +1 207 781 2150
email: bsantos@intertechusa.com
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‘DIOPLEX’ ® VLV is a new polymeric plasticiser from Hyperlast, the speciality plasticiser manufacturer. Characterised principally by its very low viscosity (50 – 100cPs at 25°) ‘DIOPLEX’ VLV is a versatile and highly efficient product that is very easy to process. It offers similar handle-ability to standard monomerics yet provides an improvement in the level of resistance to extraction by various media when compared to monomeric counterparts such as DOP, DINP and linear phthalates. The new product offers excellent Cold Flex properties that compare favourably with most phthalates and trimellitates. Indeed, the benefits of this newly-launched plasticiser do not stop there: with its benign environmental and legislative profile, low viscosity ‘DIOPLEX’ VLV becomes an essential ingredient in plastisol formulations as a non-phthalate. In application, ‘DIOPLEX’ VLV is likely to be considered wherever a non-phthalate plasticiser is sought or where there is a need to improve the performance of non-polymerics. Applications will include any PVC plastisol use (coated fabrics or steel), PVC spray application such as under-body coating and other non-PVC, non-phthalate applications. Flotation buoys, tarpaulins and tenting, pigment masterbatch, printing inks, gaskets and closures, industrial gloves (dip coating), protective clothing, technical coatings and low toxicity compounds all lend themselves to ‘DIOPLEX’ VLV application. ‘DIOPLEX’ VLV is available in commercial quantities throughout the world. British Vita is a world leader in specialist polymer technology. Source: British Vita |
This document was provided by SpecialChem’s editor. If you want to share your submit press release in a specific area related to polymer additives and colors, please send it to james.brown@specialchem.com. SpecialChem reserv
Industry News - ‘DIOPLEX’ Polymeric Plasticiser Launched by Hyperlast
See also: http://www.hyperlast.com/plasticisers.htm
| Date de début: fin septembre 2008 Promotion : 10-15 étudiants |
Documents à télécharger
|
 brochure “Bioplastics” [plaquette.pdf] programme détaillé des cours [program-bioplastics.pdf] dossier de candidature [application-form_2008-2009.doc] calendrier des cours :1er semestre - 2ème semestre |
Recrutement ouvert : bourses disponibles
Objectifs:
Tous les cours sont dispensés en anglais par:
Débouchés :
La formation spécialisée Bioplastics vous permettra d’obtenir un diplôme de l’Ecole des Mines de Paris et d’accéder à des postes d’ingénieurs spécialisés en recherche et développement sur des produits et des procédés nouveaux et en pleine expansion au sein d’entreprises multinationales dans les secteurs suivants : automobile, emballage, agroalimentaire, pharmaceutique, cosmétiques, construction, textile…
European Polymer Journal
Article in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Nanocomposites of poly(L-lactide) and surface-grafted TiO2 nanoparticles: synthesis and characterization
Polymer Degradation and Stability
Volume 93, Issue 7, July 2008, Pages 1364-1369
Mechanical, thermal and degradation properties of poly(d,l-lactide)/poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate)/poly(ethylene glycol) blend
The mechanical, thermal and biodegradable properties of poly(d,l-lactide) (PDLLA), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) blends were studied. The influence of PEG on the tensile and impact strengths of the blends was investigated. The results showed that the toughness and elongation at break of the PDLLA/PHBV (70/30) blends were greatly improved by the addition of PEG, and the notched Izod impact strength increased about 400% and the elongation at break increased from 2.1% to 237.0%. The thermal and degradation properties of the blends were investigated by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), it was found that the thermal stability of PHBV in the presence of PDLLA was improved. The degradation test showed that the addition of PEG could notably accelerate the biodegradation of the blends in the soil at room temperature, and the mass loss is about 20% after 30 days of the storage.
Keywords: PHBV; PDLLA; PEG; Mechanical properties; Degradation properties
Biomaterials
Volume 29, Issue 23, August 2008, Pages 3393-3401
A phenomenological model for the degradation of biodegradable polymers
This paper presents a phenomenological diffusion–reaction model for the biodegradation of biodegradable polymers. The biodegradation process is modelled using a set of simplified reaction–diffusion equations. These partial differential equations are non-dimensionalised giving two normalised parameters which control the interplay between the hydrolysis reaction and the monomer diffusion. The equations are firstly solved for simple cases of plates and pins. The numerical results are presented in the form of biodegradation maps which show the conditions where the biodegradation is controlled by auto-catalysed hydrolysis, non-catalysed hydrolysis, a combination of auto-catalysed and non-catalysed hydrolyses, or a combination of hydrolysis and monomer diffusion, respectively. The degradation maps provide a clear guide for the design of biodegradable fixation devices used in orthopaedic surgeries. Finally the diffusion–reaction equations are solved using the finite element method for strip and square meshes, showing how the model can be used to assist the design of sophisticated fixation devices.
Keywords: Biodegradable polymers; Biodegradation; Modelling; Finite element analysis
