Synthesis and Biodegradation of Poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone)

Nakayama, Yuushou; Aihara, Kazuki; Cai, Zhengguo; Shiono, Takeshi; Tsutsumi, Chikara

doi:10.3390/ijms18061312

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Biodegradation of Poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone)

by

Yuushou Nakayama

^1,*

,

Kazuki Aihara

¹,

Zhengguo Cai

²

,

Takeshi Shiono

^1,*

and

Chikara Tsutsumi

³

¹

Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8527, Japan

²

State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Material Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China

³

Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Niihama National College of Technology, Niihama 792-8580, Japan

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18(6), 1312; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18061312

Submission received: 28 April 2017 / Revised: 26 May 2017 / Accepted: 13 June 2017 / Published: 20 June 2017

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradable Materials 2017)

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Abstract

Although the copolymerizations of l-lactide (LA) with seven- or six-membered ring lactones have been extensively studied, the copolymerizations of LA with four-membered ring lactones have scarcely been reported. In this work, we studied the copolymerization of LA with β-propiolactone (PL) and the properties of the obtained copolymers. The copolymerization of LA with PL was carried out using trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as a catalyst and methanol as an initiator to produce poly(LA-co-PL) with M_n of ~50,000 and PL-content of 6–67 mol %. The T_g values of the copolymers were rapidly lowered with increasing PL-contents. The T_m and ΔH_m of the copolymers gradually decreased with increasing PL-contents, indicating their decreased crystallinity. Biodegradation test of the copolymers in compost demonstrated their improved biodegradability in comparison with the homopolymer of LA.

Keywords: copolymerization; l-lactide; β-propiolactone; trifluoromethanesulfonic acid; poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone); thermal properties; biodegradation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Nakayama, Y.; Aihara, K.; Cai, Z.; Shiono, T.; Tsutsumi, C. Synthesis and Biodegradation of Poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone). Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18, 1312. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18061312

AMA Style

Nakayama Y, Aihara K, Cai Z, Shiono T, Tsutsumi C. Synthesis and Biodegradation of Poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone). International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2017; 18(6):1312. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18061312

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nakayama, Yuushou, Kazuki Aihara, Zhengguo Cai, Takeshi Shiono, and Chikara Tsutsumi. 2017. "Synthesis and Biodegradation of Poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone)" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 18, no. 6: 1312. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18061312

APA Style

Nakayama, Y., Aihara, K., Cai, Z., Shiono, T., & Tsutsumi, C. (2017). Synthesis and Biodegradation of Poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone). International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 18(6), 1312. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18061312

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Synthesis and Biodegradation of Poly(l-lactide-co-β-propiolactone)

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