Effects of mechano-hydrolysis on PLGA composition and its degradation products

Effects of mechano-hydrolysis on PLGA composition and its degradation products | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Effects of mechano-hydrolysis on PLGA composition and its degradation products Devleena Samanta, John Koithan, Anastasia Muliana, Matt Pharr This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8752100/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a widely used copolymer in the medical industry for tissue implants and drug-delivery systems. In vivo, these polymer matrices are subjected to concurrent fluid sorption, hydrolytic degradation, thermolysis, and mechanical loading. While extensive studies on how PLGA degrades via hydrolysis and thermolysis have been conducted, there is very limited information on how mechanical loading affects the degradation process and byproducts, and, more specifically, how the copolymer's composition itself might change during this process. In this study, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was employed to track the evolution of functional groups, degradation products, and lactide-to-glycolide ratio at the specimen surface subjected to static mechanical load during hydrolytic degradation of PLGA 85/15 at human body temperature (37°C). These spectral results were further connected with one of our previous studies to correlate the polymer’s thermal properties, water uptake, and molecular weight. Analysis of the degradation products, namely carbonyl and carboxyl/carboxylate bands, revealed that static loading promotes earlier diffusion and neutralization of carboxylic end groups, thereby delaying the accumulation of carboxylate ions and the onset of autocatalytic degradation relative to non-loaded samples, which exhibited earlier carboxylate formation, pronounced swelling, stronger autocatalytic degradation, and eventual structural collapse. FTIR peak-fitting of the methyl and methylene bending vibrational modes further demonstrated an overall increase in the relative lactide content at the surface of both loaded and non-loaded PLGA 85/15 samples undergoing hydrolysis at 37ºC. Polymer Science Biopolymers Spectroscopy Materials Engineering Materials Chemistry Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8752100","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":583613003,"identity":"38d9da43-a1bd-416e-a456-3d09b520b8f6","order_by":0,"name":"Devleena Samanta","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9428-2573","institution":"Texas A\u0026M University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Devleena","middleName":"","lastName":"Samanta","suffix":""},{"id":583613847,"identity":"37f8aba6-e965-4277-aed3-e4131024eacd","order_by":1,"name":"John Koithan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Texas A\u0026M University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"John","middleName":"","lastName":"Koithan","suffix":""},{"id":583613851,"identity":"f4c21558-47a4-42ba-b711-4777f0601b61","order_by":2,"name":"Anastasia Muliana","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Texas A\u0026M University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anastasia","middleName":"","lastName":"Muliana","suffix":""},{"id":583613854,"identity":"32edf44e-96f2-47df-a6b9-932ae2f104e0","order_by":3,"name":"Matt Pharr","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAwElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHhBhU88P5TI2EKklLUGyjUQthxMMjhGrRXd278HPlXvS8ozvNz/dzMNgI7vhAAEtZnfOJUueeWZTbHaMzew2D0OaMWEtN3IMJBsOpDFuO8YA0nI4kRgtxj8bDhxm3NzG/g2o5T9RWsyAtgANZ+MB2XKACC13zphZAh1mLHEsp+zmHINk45kEtdzuMb7ZcMBGjr/5+LYbbyrsZPsIaWGQQOEZEFKOqWUUjIJRMApGARYAAD5ASMWbPYbvAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Texas A\u0026M University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matt","middleName":"","lastName":"Pharr","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-31 19:05:55","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8752100/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8752100/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101881384,"identity":"7b769240-de95-48a3-a139-a15120df2d7b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-04 15:11:48","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1495386,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptPLGASpectroscopy.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8752100/v1_covered_253111ae-ccde-49f7-8473-8b70e3f80016.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEffects of mechano-hydrolysis on PLGA composition and its degradation products\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[{"identity":"cc5e88da-3270-44d5-b9ea-beda3524e7a0","identifier":"10.13039/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","awardNumber":"CMMI-2013696","order_by":0}],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"National Science Foundation","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8752100/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8752100/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePoly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a widely used copolymer in the medical industry for tissue implants and drug-delivery systems. In vivo, these polymer matrices are subjected to concurrent fluid sorption, hydrolytic degradation, thermolysis, and mechanical loading. While extensive studies on how PLGA degrades via hydrolysis and thermolysis have been conducted, there is very limited information on how mechanical loading affects the degradation process and byproducts, and, more specifically, how the copolymer's composition itself might change during this process. In this study, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was employed to track the evolution of functional groups, degradation products, and lactide-to-glycolide ratio at the specimen surface subjected to static mechanical load during hydrolytic degradation of PLGA 85/15 at human body temperature (37\u0026deg;C). These spectral results were further connected with one of our previous studies to correlate the polymer\u0026rsquo;s thermal properties, water uptake, and molecular weight. Analysis of the degradation products, namely carbonyl and carboxyl/carboxylate bands, revealed that static loading promotes earlier diffusion and neutralization of carboxylic end groups, thereby delaying the accumulation of carboxylate ions and the onset of autocatalytic degradation relative to non-loaded samples, which exhibited earlier carboxylate formation, pronounced swelling, stronger autocatalytic degradation, and eventual structural collapse. FTIR peak-fitting of the methyl and methylene bending vibrational modes further demonstrated an overall increase in the relative lactide content at the surface of both loaded and non-loaded PLGA 85/15 samples undergoing hydrolysis at 37\u0026ordm;C.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Effects of mechano-hydrolysis on PLGA composition and its degradation products","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-03 17:13:45","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8752100/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"99c53758-312f-4f2a-8042-2c107dfbd387","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 3rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":62094159,"name":"Polymer Science"},{"id":62094160,"name":"Biopolymers"},{"id":62094161,"name":"Spectroscopy"},{"id":62094162,"name":"Materials Engineering"},{"id":62094163,"name":"Materials Chemistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-03T17:13:45+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-03 17:13:45","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8752100","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8752100","identity":"rs-8752100","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}