Crucial Differences in the Hydrolytic Degradation between Industrial Polylactide and Laboratory-Scale Poly(L-lactide)

Abstract

The rate of degradation of large-scale synthesized polylactide (PLA) of industrial origin was compared with that of laboratory-scale synthesized poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) of similar molar mass. The structural discrepancy between the two material types resulted in a significant difference in degradation rate. Although the hydrolysis of industrial PLA was substantially faster than that of PLLA, the PLA material became less brittle and fragmented to a lesser extent during degradation. In addition, a comprehensive picture of the degradation of industrial PLA was obtained by subjecting different PLA materials to hydrolytic degradation at various temperatures and pH’s for up to 182 days. The surrounding environment had no effect on the degradation rate at physiological temperature, but the degradation was faster in water than in a phosphate buffer after prolonged degradation at temperatures above the Tg. The degree of crystallinity had a greater influence than the degradation environment on the rate of hydrolysis. For a future use of polylactide in applications where bulk plastics are generally used today, for example plastic packages, the appropriate PLA grade must be chosen based on the conditions prevailing in the degradation environment.