PLA : A New Generation of Bio-based Material

#Plastic has brought many conveniences to our lives, and we use many plastic products in our clothing, food, housing and transportation. But for plastic, many people have a common impression - not environmentally friendly.

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Because the common petroleum-based plastics in the natural environment is difficult to degrade, and its pollution management is also a global problem.

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In recent years, issues such as "white pollution", "microplastics" and "garbage continent" have received wide attention, and we are paying more and more attention to the burden of non-biodegradable plastics to nature. The restriction of non-biodegradable plastics has become a mainstream trend.

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However, plastic products are ubiquitous in our daily lives. As a result, #biodegradable plastics are becoming a new trend.

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To this end, scientists have come up with a new concept of "from nature to nature" and developed a synthetic route to convert corn and other biomass into biodegradable #PLA plastic, which provides a feasible solution to plastic pollution control through chemical magic. This plastic, made from #plant starch, has excellent #biodegradability and is an environmentally friendly plastic that can effectively reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastics and is of great significance in controlling plastic pollution.

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What is PLA?

Poly Lactic Acid (PLA): It is a new type of biodegradable material made from #starch derived from renewable plant resources. It has good biodegradability and can be completely degraded by microorganisms in nature after use, eventually producing carbon dioxide and water without polluting the environment, which is very beneficial to #environmental protection and is recognized as an environmentally friendly material.

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The popular biodegradable #straws, #tableware, #shoppingbags, etc. on the market now have the participation of PLA.

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Advantages of PLA

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01. Biodegradability.

PLA can be degraded in 8-25 weeks under composting conditions and will be completely degraded in 3-5 years even under natural conditions, while the degradation time of traditional plastics is more than 100 years.

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02. Safety.

PLA is derived from plants, mainly corn, sucrose, etc. to make lactic acid, its monomeric raw material L-lactic acid is the endogenous active substance of human body, PLA products are non-toxic to human body, non-repulsive and can be absorbed by human body, can be made into medical tissue skeleton materials and pharmaceutical carriers and safely used in human body, some companies producing PLA has also been certified by the U.S. FDA.

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03. Substitution of crude oil.

PLA is derived from #biomass materials, reducing the dependence on oil resources, which is the direction of resource optimization.

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04. Easy mass production.

Pure natural raw materials, easy to obtain and renewable, suitable for large-scale intensive production.

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05. Good mechanical properties.

It has mechanical properties similar to #polypropylene, while its gloss, clarity and processability are similar to polystyrene, and the processing temperature is lower than that of polyolefin, so it can be processed into various packaging materials, fibers and nonwovens by injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, spinning and other general plastic processing methods.

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06. Good fiber forming property.

In addition to replacing #disposable plastics, the long-term application value of PLA is expected to be in the textile field.

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Polylactic acid clothing of soft and comfortable, moisture wicking, anti-UV and anti-bacterial ability, the future is expected in the textile field to partially replace polyester / polyester and other products.

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Disadvantages of PLA

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PLA in the application also revealed some shortcomings, such as prone to brittle breakage, uncontrollable degradation cycle, biocompatibility is not enough, etc..

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But for these problems of PLA, scientists are also actively seeking solutions. For example, through blending, copolymerization, nanocomposite and other means to further improve the toughness, degradation cycle controllability, hydrophilicity, antibacterial properties of PLA, greatly broaden the scope of PLA applications.

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What are the applications of PLA?

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In fact, PLA is no stranger to us, and we can encounter it in various aspects of our lives.

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01. Food and Beverage

In recent years, the rapid development of #takeaway, #express delivery and #catering industry, together with the "plastic ban" and other policies, the commercialization of PLA products is moving forward in a big way. As our daily drinking milk tea, food, etc. are commonly used PLA straws, PLA disposable tableware and PLA #packaging bags.

02. Apparel

PLA clothing made by blending PLA with antibacterial agent is favored by consumers. The clothing is not only soft and comfortable, moisture absorbing and sweat wicking, anti-UV and antibacterial, but also can reduce the production of microplastics.

03. Toys

PLA modified by plasticizing and toughening can be used in the shell of daily necessities and children's toys, which can effectively prevent children from ingesting harmful plastic particles.

04. Medical Use

By improving the hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of PLA and improving the control of PLA degradation time, #biomedical polymers such as PLA vascular scaffolds, absorbable materials, surgical sutures and drug delivery materials, tissue engineering scaffolds and bone repair materials are also gradually put into use.

Medical field is the early application of PLA and its compound. Extensive basic research and clinical applications have been conducted in the fields of orthopedic surgery, thoracic surgery, maxillofacial surgery, targeted therapy of tumors, etc.

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05. Agriculture

PLA agricultural mulch and film.

It is important for environmental management and has a very large application market.

06. Industrial Applications.

Industrial plastics (cars, boats, aircraft interiors and parts, home appliances shells, etc.) have PLA's participation.