What is PLA

Polylactic acid, also known as polylactide, is a polyester polymer obtained by polymerizing lactic acid as the main raw material, and is a new type of biodegradable material.

 

01 Polylactic acid

Polylactic acid, also known as polylactide, is a polyester polymer obtained by polymerizing lactic acid as the main raw material, and is a new type of biodegradable material.

 

Polylactic acid has good thermal stability, processing temperature of 170-230 ℃, and good solvent resistance. It can be processed in various ways, such as extrusion, spinning, biaxial stretching, and injection blow molding. Products made from polylactic acid not only have biodegradability, but also good biocompatibility, glossiness, transparency, hand feel, and heat resistance.

 

 

02 Advantages of Polylactic Acid

1) Good biodegradability

Polylactic acid is a new type of biodegradable material with good biodegradability. After use, it can be completely degraded by microorganisms in nature, ultimately producing carbon dioxide and water without polluting the environment. This is very beneficial for protecting the environment and is recognized as an environmentally friendly material.

 

2) Good mechanical and physical properties

Polylactic acid is suitable for various processing methods such as blow molding and thermoplastic, with convenient processing and a wide range of applications.

 

3) Good compatibility and degradability

Polylactic acid is also widely used in the pharmaceutical field, such as the production of disposable infusion equipment, non removable surgical sutures, and low molecular weight polylactic acid as a drug sustained-release packaging agent.

 

4) Unique performance

In addition to the basic characteristics of biodegradable plastics, polylactic acid also has its own unique properties. The strength, transparency, and resistance to climate change of traditional biodegradable plastics are not as good as ordinary plastics.

 

5) Widely used

The basic physical properties of polylactic acid and petrochemical synthetic plastics are similar, which means that they can be widely used to manufacture various application products. Polylactic acid also has good luster and transparency, comparable to films made from polystyrene, which cannot be provided by other biodegradable products.

 

6) The best tensile strength and ductility

Polylactic acid can also be produced through various common processing methods.

 

7) Polylactic acid film has good breathability, oxygen permeability, and carbon dioxide permeability, and it also has the characteristic of isolating odors.

 

8) When incinerating polylactic acid, its combustion heat value is the same as incinerating paper, which is half of incinerating traditional plastics such as polyethylene, and incinerating polylactic acid will never release toxic gases such as nitrides and sulfides. The human body also contains lactic acid in monomeric form, which indicates the safety of this biodegradable product.

 

03 Application fields of polylactic acid

Packing

It is mainly used in packaging bags, packaging films, medical films, foamed plastics, tableware, etc.

PLA material has a smooth surface and high transparency, so it can compete with polystyrene and PET in certain application fields.

PLA has been applied to hard packaging of fruits, vegetables, eggs, cooked food, and baked goods.

 

Medical care

Drug controlled release system, orthopedic fixation, tissue adsorption materials, surgical sutures, oral fixation materials, ophthalmic materials.

Other durable goods (electronics, automotive parts, etc.)

 

 

The modified polylactic acid PLA developed by Shanghai Yifu Packaging can improve the impact resistance, heat resistance, rigidity, and flame retardancy of PLA. PLA has been widely used in the manufacturing of computer components, laptop shells, mobile phone parts, DVD player shells, optical discs and home appliance parts, automotive parts, etc. PLA can be mixed and compounded with other resins, inorganic materials and other materials to produce new plastic "alloys" with excellent physical properties. These materials have excellent characteristics in anti-static, dimensional stability, tear strength, compression strength, tensile strength, impact strength and other aspects, making them ideal new environmentally friendly synthetic materials.