@misc{ReicheKratzHofmannetal.2011,
  author    = {Reiche, J{\"u}rgen and Kratz, Karl and Hofmann, Dieter and Lendlein, Andreas},
  title     = {Current status of Langmuir monolayer degradation of polymeric biomaterials},
  series = {The international journal of artificial organs},
  volume    = {34},
  journal   = {The international journal of artificial organs},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {Wichtig},
  address   = {Milano},
  issn      = {0391-3988},
  doi       = {10.5301/IJAO.2011.6401},
  pages     = {123 -- 128},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {Langmuir monolayer degradation (LMD) experiments with polymers possessing outstanding biomedical application potential yield information regarding the kinetics of their hydrolytic or enzymatic chain scission under well-defined and adjustable degradation conditions. A brief review is given of LMD investigations, including the author's own work on 2-dimensional (2D) polymer systems, providing chain scission data, which are not disturbed by simultaneously occurring transport phenomena, such as water penetration into the sample or transport of scission fragments out of the sample. A knowledge-based approach for the description and simulation of polymer hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation based on a combination of fast LMD experiments and computer simulation of the water penetration is briefly introduced. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{GhobadiHeuchelKratzetal.2012,
  author    = {Ghobadi, Ehsan and Heuchel, Matthias and Kratz, Karl and Lendlein, Andreas},
  title     = {Simulation of volumetric swelling of degradable poly[(rac-lactide)-co-glycolide] based polyesterurethanes containing different urethane-linkers},
  series = {Journal of applied biomaterials \& functional materials},
  volume    = {10},
  journal   = {Journal of applied biomaterials \& functional materials},
  number    = {3},
  publisher = {Wichtig},
  address   = {Milano},
  issn      = {2280-8000},
  doi       = {10.5301/JABFM.2012.10432},
  pages     = {293 -- 301},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Aim: The hydrolytic degradation behavior of degradable aliphatic polyester-based polymers is strongly influenced by the uptake or transport of water into the polymer matrix and also the hydrolysis rate of ester bonds. Methods: We examined the volumetric swelling behavior of poly[(rac-lactide)-co-glycolide] (PLGA) and PLGA-based polyurethanes (PLGA-PU) with water contents of 0 wt\%, 2 wt\% and 7 wt\% water at 310 K using a molecular modeling approach. Polymer systems with a number average molecular weight of M-n = 10,126 g.mol(-1) were constructed from PLGA with a lactide content of 67 mol\%, whereby PLGA-PU systems were composed of five PLGA segments with M-n = 2052 g.mol(-1), which were connected via urethane linkers originated from 2,2,4-trimethyl hexamethylene-1,6-diisocyanate (TMDI), hexamethyl-1,6-diisocyanate (HDI), or L-lysine-1,6-diisocyanate (LDI). Results: The calculated densities of the dry PLGA-PU systems were found to be lower than for pure PLGA. The obtained volumetric swelling of the PLGA-PU was depending on the type of urethane linker, whereby all swollen PLGA-PUs contained larger free volume distribution compared to pure PLGA. The mean square displacement curves for dry PLGA and PLGA-PUs showed that urethane linker units reduce the mobility of the polymer chains, while an increase in backbone atoms mobility was found, when water was added to these systems. Consequently, an increased water uptake of PLGA-PU matrices combined with a higher mobility of the chain segments should result in an accelerated hydrolytic chain scission rate in comparison to PLGA. Conclusions: It can be anticipated that the incorporation of urethane linkers might be a helpful tool to adjust the degradation behavior of polyesters.},
  language  = {en}
}