Poly Glycolic Acid (Poly Glycolic Acid) is a unique organic synthetic material. It has a wide range of applications, outstanding performance and unique production process.

Application
In the medical field, poly glycolic acid is often used as a raw material for absorbable sutures. Because of its good biocompatibility, after implantation in the human body, it can be gradually degraded and absorbed as the wound heals, without removing the stitches, greatly reducing the risk of patient pain and infection. In the packaging industry, poly glycolic acid can be made into biodegradable packaging materials. With the increase in environmental awareness, traditional plastic packaging is difficult to degrade and causes environmental pollution, while poly glycolic acid packaging materials can degrade in the natural environment, meeting the needs of green packaging. In agriculture, polyglycolic acid can be used to prepare controlled-release fertilizer coatings. Fertilizers are wrapped in polyglycolic acid coatings, which slowly release nutrients according to environmental conditions, prolong fertilizer efficiency, improve fertilizer utilization, and reduce soil and water pollution caused by excessive fertilization.

Properties
Polyglycolic acid has high crystallinity, which makes it have excellent mechanical properties, good tensile strength, and can meet the strength requirements of many materials. Its thermal stability is also commendable, which can maintain stable performance within a certain temperature range without deformation or decomposition. Furthermore, biodegradability is the key property of polyglycolic acid. Under the action of microorganisms, water, oxygen, etc., polyglycolic acid gradually decomposes into carbon dioxide and water, returning to the natural ecological cycle, which is environmentally friendly.

Production
The production of polyglycolic acid mainly includes direct polycondensation and ring-opening polymerization. The direct polycondensation method uses glycolic acid as a raw material and directly condenses and polymerizes under the action of a catalyst. This method is relatively simple in process and low in cost, but the molecular weight of the obtained polyglycolic acid is limited, which affects its performance and application. The ring-opening polymerization method uses glycolide as a monomer and ring-opening polymerization under the action of an initiator. This method can produce high molecular weight polyglycolic acid with good product performance, but the preparation process of glycolide is complicated and costly. In order to optimize production, researchers continue to explore new catalysts and process conditions to improve the production efficiency and quality of polyglycolic acid, reduce costs, and promote its wider application.