New PVC materials for medical applications—the release profile of PVC/polycaprolactone–polycarbonate aged in aqueous environments

Medical grade PVC plasticised with polycaprolactone–polycarbonate (PCL–PC) was subjected to aqueous environments at different temperatures. The release profile during ageing was determined by solid phase microextraction (SPME) and GC–MS. At the same time changes in the surface composition due to, for example, migration of PCL–PC from the blend were followed by FTIR. Almost no changes in the material or its surface composition were observed during 98 days at 37 °C in water or phosphate buffer. Only trace amount of 6-hydroxyhexanoic acid the final hydrolysis product of PCL–PC was detected in the GC–MS chromatograms and the weight loss was negligible. Even when the ageing temperature was raised to 70 °C only minor increase in the amount of 6-hydroxyhexanoic acid was observed and the weight loss after 98 days was under 1%. Changes in the FTIR spectra indicating migration of PCL–PC towards the surface of the PVC/PCL–PC tubing were observed first after 70 days at 70 °C. Large increase in the hydrolysis rate of PCL–PC and almost complete depletion of PCL–PC from the blend was observed when the ageing temperature was raised to 100 °C.