Analysis demonstrates effective lactide synthesis using butyl lactate for polylactic acid production, indicating potential for biomedical scaffolds.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable polymer valued for its renewability and biocompatibility. This study introduces an alternative nonfermentation synthesis route for PLA using butyl lactate as a feedstock. The process involves oligomerization, depolymerization, and ring-opening polymerization (ROP), with optimization of temperature, time, and catalyst concentration. SnCl₄ was used for lactide synthesis, while Sn(Oct)₂ with poly(glycerol)-10 and butanediol served as catalysts and initiators for polymerization. Under optimal conditions, high-purity lactide and PLA with properties comparable to commercial PLA were obtained. Moreover, PLA fibers with a highly porous surface morphology were successfully fabricated, providing large surface areas suitable for biomedical scaffolds and filtration applications. Although the PLA yield remains lower than industrial standards, this work demonstrates the technical feasibility of the proposed route and offers a foundation for process scale-up, expanding sustainable feedstock utilization and enhancing material functionality.
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Nyiavuevang et al. (2025) studied this question.
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