Modifications of Poly(lactic Acid) with Blends and Plasticization for Tenacity and Toughness Improvement

Abstract

This review focuses on the modification of the inherent brittleness of biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to increase its toughness, as well as recent advances in this field. The most often utilized toughening methods are melt blending, plasticization, and rubber toughening. The process of selecting a toughening scheme is still difficult, although it directly affects the blend's mechanical properties. There has been a lot of development, but there is still a long way to go before we get easily processable, totally bio-based, 100% biodegradable PLA. The blends of PLA with other polymers, such as plasticizers or rubber, are often incompatible with one another, which causes the blend's individual components to behave in a manner consistent with phase separation. Polymer blending has been shown to be particularly effective in attaining high-impact strength. This review addresses the recent progress in improving the toughened PLA to gain properties necessary for the material's future engineering applications. As 3D and 4D printing becomes more accessible, PLA characteristics may be modified and treated utilizing more sophisticated production techniques.

Crafting sustainable solutions: architecting biodegradable copolymers through controlled ring-opening copolymerization

“…On the other hand, the sequential addition of CL followed by LA for 3 h reaction time produced 58/42 content of the CL and LA units in the copolymer (M nexp = 37.9 kDa, PDI = 1.54). In the same year, Gilmour and co-workers reported dimethylamido and alkoxide complexes of titanium (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) bearing pyridonate ligands and demonstrated their utility in the ROCOP of rac-LA and ε-CL to afford block and random copolymers (Fig. 8-10).…”

“…To improve these properties, PLA or PCL could be altered through plasticization, copolymerization, or mixing to improve its characteristics and enable the synthesis of various biodegradable polymers. [14][15][16] L-Lactide (L-LA), D,Llactide (D,L-LA), ε-caprolactone (ε-CL), and their random, gradient or block copolymers are of noteworthy significance because they can be used to make a variety of biomedical devices with tunable properties based on composition, monomer sequencing, and molecular weights. For instance, the random copolymer, which integrates the quick biodegradation of PLA with PCL permeability to produce intermediate characteristics, is more well-suited for application.…”