Synthesis of Polylactic Acid
Author
Vitkevicius, Pranas
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2017
Submitted on
2017-06-30
Pages
101
Abstract
Dette projekt undersøger, om alternative metoder som sonokemi (kemi drevet af ultralyd) og mikrobølgeinduceret polymerisation kan bruges til at syntetisere polylaktid (PLA) hurtigere og mere energieffektivt, og om de kan være relevante for industriel produktion. PLA er en biologisk nedbrydelig, alsidig alifatisk polyester, der kan fremstilles af fornybare råvarer som majs og sukkerroer. Dens egenskaber kan matche almindelige petroleumsbaserede plasttyper som PET og PVC. De nuværende industrielle metoder kræver høje temperaturer og tryk. I dette projekt blev laboratorieopstillinger designet ud fra litteraturen for at fremstille PLA. Reaktionsforløbet blev overvåget med Raman-spektroskopi og analyseret med hovedkomponentanalyse (PCA), en statistisk metode, der fremhæver mønstre i data. De fremstillede PLA-prøver havde ringere egenskaber end industrielt produceret PLA og kunne derfor ikke måle sig med referenceprodukterne. PCA indikerede dog, at polymerisationen skred frem i den forventede retning. Yderligere justering og optimering af forsøgsopstillingerne er nødvendig for at opnå bedre resultater. I deres nuværende form fremstår hverken sonokemi eller mikrobølgeinducerede reaktioner alene som levedygtige til industriel anvendelse.
This project investigates whether alternative methods—ultrasound-driven chemistry (sonochemistry) and microwave-induced polymerization—can be used to synthesize polylactic acid (PLA) more quickly and efficiently, and whether they are suitable for industrial production. PLA is a biodegradable, versatile aliphatic polyester that can be made from renewable resources such as corn and sugar beets. Its properties can match common petroleum-based plastics like PET and PVC. Current industrial PLA processes require high temperatures and pressures. In this work, laboratory setups based on the literature were built to produce PLA. The reaction progress was monitored with Raman spectroscopy and analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a statistical method that highlights patterns in data. The PLA obtained showed inferior properties compared with industrial PLA and could not match the reference materials. However, PCA indicated that the polymerization proceeded in the expected direction. Further adjustments and optimization of the experimental setups are needed to achieve better results. As tested here, neither sonochemistry nor microwave-induced reactions alone appear viable for industrial use.
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