Seawater degradation of PLA accelerated by water-soluble PVA

Abstract

In order to promote the degradation of PLA in seawater, a series of seawater-degradable polyester blends PVA/PLA were prepared by blending biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) with water-soluble modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in this paper. ADR 4370S was introduced to bring a certain degree of improvement in compatibility of PVA/PLA blends. The results of degradation test in natural seawater for 180 days show that the weight loss of PVA/PLA blends in seawater is much higher compared with that of pure PLA. PVA can be used as an effective hydrolysis accelerator for PLA matrix, helping to significantly reduce the molecular weight of PLA. The channels caused by dissolution/swelling of PVA facilitate the entry of water and microorganisms into the materials to contact with PLA, thereby promoting the degradation process of PLA matrix itself. Thus, both dissolution/swelling of PVA and degradation of PLA occur in PVA/PLA blends, and the degree of rapid dissolution of PVA in the early stage determines the degree of degradation of PLA.

Improvement of mechanical properties and heat distortion temperature of polylactic acid by highly aromatic hyperbranched polyamide

“…Due to its good biodegradability, PLA is widely used in the daily life of human beings. Moreover, it can be completely degraded into carbon dioxide and water 6 by microorganisms under specific conditions in nature. Apart from that, the main advantages of PLA lie in its good processibility.…”

Biodegradable PGA/PBAT Blends for 3D Printing: Material Performance and Periodic Minimal Surface Structures

“…The epoxy group of ADR is expectable to react with both hydroxyl and carboxyl of the polyester [34,35]. The introduction of ADR efficiently facilitated the reaction between PGA and PBAT, which resulted in a polymer network (as illustrated in Figure 1) and decreased both the number of hydroxyl and carboxyl end-groups in PGA and PBAT.…”

Flame retardancy of biodegradable polylactic acid with piperazine pyrophosphate and melamine cyanurate as flame retardant

“…39,40 As a biodegradable polymer material, PLA can be biodegraded within several months when it is exposed to air. [41][42][43][44] During the transportation and storage process of PLA, biodegradation of PLA is inevitable. In the field of the investigation on the flame retardancy of PLA composites, most work was focused on the flame retardants and few work had considered the effect of PLA biodegradation on flame retardancy of PLA composites.…”