*4.2. Material Preparation*

The polymer was prepared at the Department of Materials Engineering at the São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Brazil, according to Dias e Chinelatto (2019) [36]. The material used was Poly(acid lactic) (PLA grade: Ingeo 3251D), manufactured by NatureWorks Co. Ltd. with 80,000 g.mol−1, 1.4% of D-PLA content, 48 MPa tensile strength, 2.5% strain at break, and 16 J.m−<sup>1</sup> Izod impact resistance. Polymer implants (1 cm<sup>2</sup> and 1 mm thick) were produced via hot pressing at 180 ◦C. Sterilization was performed with ethylene oxide (Acecil Central de Esterilização Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil).
