Ring Opening Polymerization in Polylactic Acid Production Using Different Catalyst

Abstract:

Polylactic acid is a biodegradable polymer with wide range of applications in food packaging and medical industries. Polylactic acid is commonly derived from lactic acid which is made from sugar and starch via bacterial fermentation. Whereas the production of polylactic acid via ring opening polymerization uses lactide as its precursor. This method undergoes reaction with the presence of catalyst. In this research, polylactic acid is produced via ring opening polymerization using different catalyst. However, very few studies conducted on how the catalyst effects the molecular structure of the PLA produced. The main objective is to study the effect of using stannous octoate (SnOct₂) and anhydrous lithium chloride (LiCl) as catalyst in producing PLA. Lactide is reacted with SnOct₂ and LiCl at 130°C at different ratio of lactide to catalyst (Lac/Cat) of 25/1, 50/1 and 100/1 by weight. The resulting PLA is characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to analyse the molecular structure and UV-Visible Spectrometer (UV-VIS) to measure the concentration of the PLA obtained. The ratio of Lac/Cat shows significant difference on the PLA with SnOc_t2 as the catalyst but shows no significant difference on the PLA with LiCl as the catalyst. Nevertheless, LiCl can still be used as the catalyst in producing PLA which has been proved by the presence of certain peaks on the FTIR spectrum. However, further investigation needs to be carried out to understand the ROP mechanism when using LiCl as the catalyst.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1079)
• Pages: 87-92
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-4gioc4
• Online since: December 2022
• Authors: Nur Athirah Binti Ghazali, Norliza Ibrahim*
• Keywords: Catalyst, Polylactic Acid, Polymer, Polymerization, Ring-Opening

References

[1] D. Garlotta, A literature review of poly(lactic acid),, J. Polym. Environ., (2001).

[2] R. E. Drumright, P. R. Gruber, and D. E. Henton, Polylactic acid technology,, Adv. Mater., (2000).

[3] M. H. Hartmann, High Molecular Weight Polylactic Acid Polymers,, in Biopolymers from Renewable Resources, (1998).

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-03680-8_15

[4] R. E. Conn et al., Safety assessment of polylactide (PLA) for use as a food-contact polymer,, Food Chem. Toxicol., (1995).

[5] D. Pholharn, Y. Srithep, and J. Morris, Effect of initiators on synthesis of poly(L-lactide) by ring opening polymerization,, in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, (2017).

DOI: 10.1088/1757-899x/213/1/012022

[6] M. S. Lopes, A. L. Jardini, and R. M. Filho, Synthesis and characterizations of poly (lactic acid) by ring-opening polymerization for biomedical applications,, Chem. Eng. Trans., (2014).

[7] A. J. Rincon Lasprilla, G. A. Rueda Martinez, B. H. Lunelli, J. E. Jaimes Figueroa, A. L. Jardini, and R. M. Filho, Synthesis and characterization of poly (Lactic Acid) for use in biomedical field,, in Chemical Engineering Transactions, (2011).

[8] L. T. Sin and B. S. Tueen, Synthesis and Production of Poly(Lactic Acid),, in Polylactic Acid, (2019).

DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-814472-5.00002-9

[9] K. J. Jem, J. F. van der Pol, and S. de Vos, Microbial Lactic Acid, Its Polymer Poly(lactic acid), and Their Industrial Applications,, (2010).

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-03287-5_13

[10] W. Xie, D. Chen, X-H. Fan, J. Li, P. Wang, H.N. Cheng, and R. Nickol, Lithium chloride as catalyst for the ring-opening polymerization of lactide in the presence of hydroxyl-containing compounds,, J. Polym. Sci. Part A Polym. Chem., (1999).

DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0518(19990901)37:17<3486::aid-pola6>3.0.co;2-2

[11] G. Swift, Directions for Environmentally Biodegradable Polymer Research,, Acc. Chem. Res., (1993).

[12] N. Choksi and H. Desai, Synthesis of Biodegradable Polylactic Acid Polymer By Using Lactic Acid Monomer,, (2017).

[13] S. K. Singh, P. Anthony, and A. Chowdhury, High molecular weight poly(lactic acid) synthesized with apposite catalytic combination and longer time,, Orient. J. Chem., vol. 34, no. 4, (2018).

DOI: 10.13005/ojc/3404036

[14] A. K. Helmy, S. G. de Bussetti, and E. A. Ferreiro, The surface energy of palygorskite,, Powder Technol., vol. 171, no. 2, (2007).

DOI: 10.1016/j.powtec.2006.10.006

[15] C. Moliner, E. Finocchio, E. Arato, G. Ramis, and A. Lagazzo, Influence of the degradation medium on water uptake, morphology, and chemical structure of Poly(Lactic Acid)-Sisal bio-composites,, Materials (Basel)., vol. 13, no. 18, (2020).

DOI: 10.3390/ma13183974

[16] X. F. Zhu, J. Zhang, and B. C. Chen, Study on Synthesis and Thermal Properties of Polylactic Acid,, in Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2019, vol. 1176, no. 4.

[17] K. Boua-In, N. Chaiyut, and B. Ksapabutr, Preparation of polylactide by ring-opening polymerisation of lactide,, Optoelectron. Adv. Mater. Rapid Commun., vol. 4, no. 9, (2010).