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Revision as of 21:17, 14 July 2005 by Drguff (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester with a low melting point of around 60°C. It is often mixed with starch to lower the cost and increase biodegradability.
It is used for splinting, modelling, and as a feedstock for prototype Fused Deposition Modeling systems such as RepRap.
As it is sourced from fossil carbon, the usefulness of biodegrading PCL is dubious since this will increase the amount of fossil carbon added to the atmosphere.
PCL is degraded by hydrolysis of its ester linkages in physiological conditions (such as in the human body) and has therefore received a great deal of attention for use as an implantable biomaterial.
PCL is an FDA approved material that is used in the human body as (for example) a drug delivery device, suture, adhesion barrier and is being investigated as a scaffold for tissue repair via tissue engineering.
A variety of drugs have been encapsulated within PCL beads for controlled release and targeted drug delivery which have been reviewed by Sinha et al.
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