Polylactide mechanism

Keywords biodegradable, biobased, polyester, polylactide, mechanical properties, dispersion, environmentally friendly. 

Jacobsen, S. and Fritz, H.G. 1999. Plasticizing polylactide, the effect of different plasticizers on the mechanical properties. Polymer Engineering and Science 39 1303-1310. 

Takagi, Y., Yasuda, R., Yamaoka, M. and Yamane, T. 2004. Morphologies and mechanical properties of polylactide blends with medium chain length poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) and chemically modified poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate). Journal of Applied Polymer Science 93 2363-2369. 

Bioerodible polymers offer a unique combination of properties that can be tailored to suit nearly any controlled drug delivery application. By far the most common bioerodible polymers employed for biomedical applications are polyesters and polyethers (e.g., polyethylene glycol), polylactide, polyglycolide and their copolymers). These polymers are biocompatible, have good mechanical properties, and have been used in... 

The polymerization of lactones with tin alkoxides is thought to follow the co-ordination-insertion mechanism[77a]. The ring-opening of the monomer proceeds through acyl-oxygen cleavage with retention of the configuration. Tin(IV) complexes have been used to produce predominantly syndiotactic poly((3-hy-droxybutyrate) [78,79],macrocyclic poly((3-hydroxybutyrate) [80],poly(e-CL), and polylactide [77,76,81]. 

The most effective, and commercially applied, method to produce polylactide is via the ring-opening polymerization of lactide. This process is initiated by metal complexes and proposed to occur via a coordination-insertion mechanism, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The most common initiators for this polymerization are Lewis acidic metal alkoxide or amide complexes. Key initiator criteria are sufficient Lewis acidity to enable binding and activation of the lactide unit and a labile metal alkoxide (or amide) bond so as to enable efficient insertion. 

Solarski, S., Mahjoubi, F., Ferreira, M., Devaux, E., Bachelet, P, Bourbigot, S., Delobel, R., Murariu, M., Da Silva Ferreira, A., Alexandre, M., Degee, P, and Dubois, P. 2007. (Plasticized) Polylactide/ clay nanocomposite textile Thermal, mechanical, shrinkage and fire properties. J. Mater. Sci., 42(13) 5105-5117. 

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. 

Goriparthi, B. K., Suman, K. N. S., and Rao, N. M. (2012). Effect of fiber surface treatments on mechanical and abrasive wear performance of polylactide/jute composites. Composites Part A. 43,1800-1808. 

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