Microwave‐assisted green approach for graft copolymerization of l ‐lactic acid onto starch

Poly l ‐lactic acid grafted starch (St‐ g ‐PLA) copolymers were directly synthesized under microwave irradiation by using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and stannous 2‐ethyl hexanoate acting as a catalyst, without the use of toxic solvents. The product were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance ( 13 C CP/MAS NMR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA‐DTG). SEM analysis indicated that microwave heating had a considerable effect on the interfacial adhesion between PLA and starch. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA‐DTG) revealed that copolymers exhibited better thermal stability. Maximum PLA grafting was achieved with the following reaction conditions: 450W microwave power, monomer ratio of 1:5 and 0.4 M of NaOH. This study demonstrates that it is possible to obtain St‐ g ‐PLA copolymers with better processing characteristics and smaller sizes via microwave‐assisted synthesis. The applied procedure is an interesting “green” synthesis method for the production of biodegradable materials used in a diverse range of applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 42937.