Abstract
Hydrolytic degradation of poly(lactic acid) (PLA-C) and PLA-nanocomposite produced with organomodified montmorillonite at 5 wt% (PLA-OMMT) were investigated in pure water, 50% and 95% ethanol solutions at 40 °C. The change in molecular weight, crystallinity, release of lactic acid (LA), and release of the organomodifier (QAC) were monitored. Ethanol sorption and glass transition temperature (Tg) vs ethanol fraction content were determined. Release of Al as a nanoclay marker was studied when PLA-OMMT was exposed to 50% ethanol solution. PLA-C and PLA-OMMT films had faster hydrolysis in 50% ethanol than in 95% ethanol and water. The incorporation of nanoclay did not have an effect on the hydrolytic degradation. The nanoclay doubled the sorption of ethanol into the film due to the sorption of ethanol into the nanoclay galleries. The nanoclay also acted as an anchor, restricting the movement of the polymer chains as evidenced by the ΔTg and the crystallization behavior. Hydrolysis of PLA-C and PLA-OMMT was related with the release of LA during exposure. The release of QAC from PLA-OMMT films was higher in 95% ethanol at the early stages, but then it exponentially increased in 50% ethanol due to the faster hydrolytic degradation. The clay released from PLA-OMMT films during hydrolysis in 50% ethanol was 0.58% wt. at 90 d of the initial amount of nanoclay in the PLA film.
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