A Bifunctional Monomer Derived from Lactide for Toughening Polylactide

摘要

Polylactide (PLA) is a biorenewable, biocompatible, and biodegradable polyester derived from the cyclic ester lactide. While the properties of PLA are attractive for many applications, there has been much effort on rendering its properties to be more competitive with those of traditional, petroleum-based polymers. Among those approaches, the preparation and polymerization of lactide derivatives have been explored to enhance thermal, barrier, and mechanical properties in these related polyesters. For example, functionalized lactides have been prepared, in general, from the corresponding a-hydroxyacids and subsequently polymerized with varying degrees of success. Given that lactide is a well-established renewable monomer, we explored its derivatization to give new monomers that could be utilized to improve the properties of the PLA. In this communication, we report the synthesis and polymerization of a bifunctional cyclic ester derived from lactide. We utilize the resultant polymers to enhance the toughness of PLA through a reactive grafting approach to create novel polymeric alloys of PLA that exhibit much improved toughness compared to PLA homopolymer.