Study on the Preparation and Characterization of Carboxyl Terminated Poly(L-Lactic Acid) (PLLA) Prepolymers

Abstract:

The carboxyl terminated poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) prepolymers were prepared via polycondensation of L-lactic acid and 1,6-adipic acid (end capping agent) under the catalyst of stannous octoate. The effects of synthetic condition, such as reaction temperature, amount of catalyst, content of the end capping agent, etc, on the molecular weight of PLLA were discussed. Fourier transform infrared and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance were used to characterize the PLLA prepolymers. The results indicated that the polycondensation was performed under an optimum reaction condition as following: the amount of the catalyst was 500 ppm based on the mass of lactic acid, the amount of the end capping agent was 1% (the molar amount of the lactic acid), and the polymerization temperature was 170 °C. The viscosity-average molecular weight of the product reached 2.826×10⁴ at this polymerization temperature and the yield was 73.34%.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 872)
• Pages: 165-170
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.872.165
• Online since: October 2017
• Authors: Shi Chao Lu, Yang Chuan Ke*, Qian Zhou, Zhao Rui Meng, Guo Liang Zhang, You Zhi Song, Xu Hu, Fu Zhi Huang
• Keywords: Carboxyl Terminated Poly(L-Lactic Acid), Chain-Extending, Melt Polycondensation, Prepolymer

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