Preparation and Properties of Starch-g-PLA with High Grafting Degree Catalyzed by Hydrochloric Acid

Abstract

Abstract. Starch/lactic acid graft copolymer was attempted in situ grafting reaction of lactic grafting starch via the catalysis of hydrochloric acid. The graft copolymers of Starch and PLA had been synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction(XRD), and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The synthetic condition were optimized that the weight ratios of starch with lactic acid were 1:2 when reacted for 3 hrs at 90 °C in 0.6 mol/L hydrochloric acid solution. The starch-g-lactic acid copolymer can be finally obtained with graft degree of starch 65%.