Thermal Degradation Behavior of PLA Based on Weight Loss

3 THERMAL DEGRADATION BEHAVIOR OF PLA BASED ON MOLECULAR WEIGHT CHANGE 

For all random reactions, the general relation between L and w is derived from the following equation [27]  

The thermal degradation of PLA has been claimed to mainly occur via random scission based on a linear relationship between inverse of the number-average degree of polymerization P and time as shown in Equation 23.2 [28]. Recently, Aoyagi et al. [9] and Abe et al. [29] suggested that the isothermal degradation of PLLA at 220, 290, and 330°C proceeded not only via simple random scission, but also via an unzipping depolymerization of the polymer chain based on the nonlinear relationships of l/P and P with time. 

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Thermal Degradation Behavior of PLA Based on Weight Loss... 

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