Enhanced degradation stability of poly(p-dioxanone) under different temperature and humidity with bis-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl) carbodiimide

The influences on the degradation of poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDO) under different temperature and relatively humidity is initially investigated by adding bis-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl) carbodiimide (commercial name: stabaxol®-1). The changes of intrinsic viscosity, mechanical properties, crystallinity, surface morphologies, and microstructure of PPDO and PPDO containing stabaxol®-1 for 6 weeks are monitored. With increasing the degradation time, the intrinsic viscosity and mechanical properties of PPDO decrease much faster than those of PPDO containing 0.6 wt % stabaxol®-1. During the degradation, PPDO containing 0.6 wt % stabaxol®-1 shows a better physical integrity than PPDO. It has been shown that stabaxol®-1 can retard the hydrolysis degradation of PPDO and enhance its hydrolytic stability. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2014, 131, 40026.