Possible Applications and Future Prospects

New environmental policies, societal concerns, and growing environmental awareness have triggered the search for products and processing alternatives that are more environmentally benign. PLA is considered as an alternative to the existing petroleum-based plastic materials. However, the intrinsic properties of the unmodified PLA, such as its low 

Sinha Ray acknowledges the CSIR Executive and Department of Science and Technology, South Africa, for financial support. 

Gruber, M. O Brien, Polylactides NatureWorks PLA, in Y. Doi, A. Steinbuchel (Eds.), Biopolymers, Vol. 4 Polyesters III applications and commercial products, Wiley-VCH, Wein-heim, 2002, p. 235. 

Sinha Ray,in H. S. Nalwa (Ed.), Polymeric Nanostructures and Their Applications, Vols 1 and 2, American Scientific Publishers, Los Angeles, 2007. 

Sinha Ray, M. Okamoto, T. Shiroi, Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2004, 25, 1359. 

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