Preparation of high viscosity average molecular mass poly-L-lactide

Abstract

Poly-L-lactide(PLLA) was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization from high purity L-lactide with tin octoate as initiator, and characterized by means of infrared, and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance. The influences of initiator concentration, polymerization temperature and polymerization time on the viscosity average molecular mass of PLLA were investigated. The effects of different purification methods on the concentration of initiator and viscosity average molecular mass were also studied. PLLA with a viscosity average molecular mass of about 50.5×104 was obtained when polymerization was conducted for 24 h at 140 °C with the molar ratio of monomer to purification initator being 12 000. After purification, the concentration of tin octoate decreases; however, the effect of different purification methods on the viscosity average molecular mass of PLLA is different, and the obtained PLLA is a typical amorphous polymeric material. The crystallinity of PLLA decreases with the increase of viscosity average molecular mass.