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Synthesis of Polylactide under Inert Atmosphere and Vacuum
Author(s) -
Kaur Paramjit,
Mehta Rajeev,
Berek Dusan,
Upadhyay Siddh Nath
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.201250513
Subject(s) - polymerization , monomer , triphenylphosphine , polymer chemistry , inert gas , size exclusion chromatography , molar mass distribution , materials science , chemistry , polymer , organic chemistry , catalysis , enzyme
The ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of L‐ lactide was carried out in bulk using various initiators along with triphenylphosphine (PPh 3 ) as co‐initiator. Equimolar addition of triphenylphosphine increased the molecular masses of polylactide (PLA). The polymerization was carried out at 403.15 K up to 155 hr. Different experiments were carried out over a wide range of monomer to initiator (M o /I o ) ratios. It was found that maximum molecular weight of polylactide was observed when M o /I o ratio was 2500–2700. Polymerization reactions were carried out under two different environments in the reaction vessel, an inert cover and a partial vacuum. The average molecular weight of polylactide was determined by using size exclusion chromatography. The increase of polymerization time increased the weight average molecular weight but after prolonged reaction time, the molecular weight decreased gradually.