Applications of Sustainable Polylactic Acid Parts

Development and Applications of Sustainable Polylactic Acid Parts 

Plastics Department, Faculty of Processing, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, P. O. box 115/14965, Iran 

Handbook of Sustainable Polymers Processing and Applications Edited by Vijay Kumar Thakur and Manju Kumari Thakur Copyright 2016 Pan Stanford Pubiishing Pte. Ltd. iSBN 978-981-4613-53-8 (Hardcover), 978-981-4613-54-5 (eBook) www.panstanford.com 

Lactide was first synthesized by Pelouze in 1845 [7] by selfesterification of lactic acid to obtained a prepolymer and heating of the prepolymer to produce distillate crystals. Gruter and Pohl improved the process in 1914 [8]. The procedure was first polycondensation of lactic acid at 120-135°C with the aid of air flow to remove the water. Next, lactide was distilled off under vacuum at 200°C in the presence of zinc oxide. Tin (Il)-based catalysts are the most common used catalysts in the modern industry. Since the prepolymer degradation is an equilibrium reaction, lactide must be extracted from the system in order to shift the reaction 

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