Ring-opening polymerization and plasticization of poly(L-lactic)acid by adding of glycerol-dioleate
Tibor Horváth, Kálmán Marossy, Tamás Szabó
Abstract
Abstract Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) has been produced by ring-opening polymerization method. During the polymerization processes different temperatures and process times have been applied to reach an optimum setup that was used to produce sample. The sample was measured by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) methods to identify the structure, molar mass and define the glass transition temperatures of product and obtain general information about the physical and chemical properties of material. Based on the results of measures, the material’s crystallinity was also investigated. The plasticization of PLLA has been also investigated. During the experiments, previously produced material (PLLA synthesized by polycondensation) was plasticised by adding of glycerol-dioleate. The plasticized material was also measured by FTIR, GPC and DSC methods to check the basic physical and chemical parameters of the material. According to the results of the measurements that were found, by this approach, the glass transition temperature of PLLA was reduced by 7 °C that indicated the glycerol-dioleate might act as a plasticizer for PLLA material without any deviation in the chemical structure of material.