Polylactide drawbacks

The second concept for the generation of monolithic polymers is based on diblock copolymers which were prepared by Hillmyer and coworkers [27]. These copolymers contain oriented nanoscopic cylinders of the degradable polymer polylactide (PLA) which were embedded in polystyrene. The latter served as an inert thermoplastic matrix, while PLA could be selectively removed under well-defined conditions using sodium hydroxide in aqueous methanol. The resulting mesoporous monolithic polystyrene contains nanochannels with defined pore size. The major drawback of this material free of any cross-linker is associated with reduced mechanical and chemical stability. 

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