High-yield production of lactide isomers from depolymerization of polylactic acid in supercritical carbon dioxide

Date

2025-03-01

Author

Sivri, Seda
Sezgi, Naime Aslı
Dilek Hacıhabiboğlu, Çerağ

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Chemical depolymerization of polylactic acid (PLA) was demonstrated in supercritical carbon dioxide medium. No catalyst, organic solvent or water was employed in the reaction. The primary feedstocks used in ring opening polymerization of PLA, lactide isomers, were produced with high yield. More specifically, lactides were produced as the sole nongaseous products with a 93 % yield based on the initial polymer mass at 200 °C and 310 bar in 120 min. The influences of the reaction temperature, time, and pressure on PLA depolymerization products were investigated. While the lactide yield and distribution were highly influenced by the reaction temperature and time, further improvement was attained with an increase in the pressure. The results demonstrate that supercritical CO2 can be applied as a promising reaction medium for PLA degradation, providing a high-yield production of its feedstock. The process can enable green depolymerization of polylactic acid and promote its circular economy with a closed loop production.

Subject Keywords

Depolymerization, Lactic acid, Lactide, PLA, Recycling

URI

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85209990883&origin=inward
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/112744

Collections

Department of Chemical Engineering, Article