Paper Title
Alaser-Controlled Polymer Degradation Process for Controlled Drug Release From Poly(Lactic Acid)

Abstract
Absorption from pharmaceutical formulations may occur directly from solution-type formulations or indirectly when the active ingredient must be pre-released from the formulation in order to be ready for absorption. For these applications, polymers are intensively used in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.The use of a polymer is advantageous because, depending on the properties of the polymer, the pharmaceutical composition can be released in a controlled manner. The dissolution kinetics of the active ingredient are an important feature of solid pharmaceutical products. Controlled reduction of molecular weight has greatpotential, for example in pharmaceutical production, polymers are widely used as raw materials.One typical polymeric carrier is polylactic acid. Its favorable properties include biodegradability and the fact that degradation time can vary widely. The rate of drug release from the polymer matrix depends on the physical properties of the polymer used, eg: its molecular weight, degree of crystallinity and its glass transition temperature, as well as the manufacturing technology used. The result of our research is a photodegradation process for the controlled degradation of a biopolymer; as a result, the release of the drug becomes controllable. We used extrusion-type commercially available poly(lactide acid) (PDLLA), Ingeo Biopolymer 4060D with 12.0 mol% D-lactide content (NatureWorks© LLC, USA). This type of PLA is amorphous with conventional cooling rates, because of the 12.0% D-lactide content. The active ingredient of choice was caffeine.Photodegradation was performed with a twin-tube unpolarizedKrF excimer laser. The reference and laser-treated film samples were examined with thermal (TGA) and morphological (DSC) methods, and also via FTIR-ATR and molecular weight characterization (GPC). The reference and laser-treated film samples were also examined for drug release, which was characterized with a dissolution test. The dissolution of caffeine was monitored with a UV-Vis spectrophotometer and the rate and percentage of caffeine drug release were determined. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the ÚNKP-19-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology (ÚNKP-19-3-I-BME-261). Keywords - Poly(Lacticacid), Controlled Degradation, Controlled Drug Release