Polymerization of lactide to polylactic acid by using homogenous and heterogenous catalysts

Abstract

Replacing non-biodegradable to degradable polymers are very much in concern due to reduction of petroleum supply, environment and economical related to waste disposal. Polylactic acid (PLA) shows a promising alternative to produce biodegradable plastic. The polymerization happened in homogenous phase where the catalyst, mostly used tin octoate, and the lactide are mixed in liquid phase to form PLA. However, this method become problematic for the product because the catalysts remain with the PLA and the degradation of catalyst occurred. Therefore, this study aims to convert the homogeneous catalyst to heterogeneous using ceramic waste as the support and to characterize the PLA produced by using Ultraviolet Visible (UV-Vis) Spectrometer and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The experiment was carried out at different temperatures which were 110℃, 120℃ and 130℃. From the results obtained, the highest concentration of PLA produced is at temperature of 130℃ by using heterogenous catalyst. Therefore, it can be concluded that heterogeneous catalyst can be a new method of producing PLA.