KES9-1343
Enhancing Degradation of Polylactide: From Comonomers to Masked Acid Additives
Topic
S9. Polymer Technology for Sustainability
When and Where
Sep 30, 2026
10:20 - 10:45
Room 201
Session Chairs
Heejoong KIM
Presenter(s)
Chris Ellison (University of Minnesota)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Polylactide (PLA) is one of the most promising synthetic biorenewable (i.e., from corn) alternatives to petroleum-based thermoplastics. PLA’s properties and chemical structure afford the potential to mitigate plastic waste and accumulation after-use through pathways like chemical recycling or biodegradation. Although industrial composting conditions (e.g., 58 oC, ~60% moisture content with microorganisms) are capable of degrading PLA to biomass, CO2 and water on the order of ~3 months, most of the population does not have access to these facilities. Enhancing the degradability and compostability of PLA would be an attractive step forward, especially if at-home PLA composting can be enabled. This presentation will highlight a range of strategies that we have pursued towards this end, including installing salicylate units by transesterification into the PLA backbone and physically mixing different additives, like salicylates and anhydrides, with commercial PLA resins. In general, the approaches we have pursued utilize industrially-scalable melt processing techniques with additives that are efficient and practical without compromising PLA’s many attractive properties. As a recent example, even trace (0.01 wt %, 100 ppm) incorporation of 2-sulfobenzoic acid cyclic anhydride, a masked acid, promotes PLA hydrolysis at temperatures well below the glass transition temperature of PLA. Furthermore, incorporation of 2-sulfobenzoic acid cyclic anhydride (0.1 wt %) enabled rapid biodegradation under industrial composting conditions at 58 °C, achieving 90% within 11 days, without adversely affecting microbial activity. This work provides insights and direction for the development of high-performance yet more sustainable and degradable alternatives to conventional polyesters.
