6. Ageing – Degradation and stability
Finished PLA products are exposed to different environmental conditions during their life cycle, which promotes degradation and leads to loss of properties. Degradation can be hydrolytic, microbial, photochemical, thermal or enzymatic, and depending on the application, can be an advantage or a drawback. This property opens the way to new end-of-life recovery opportunities such as chemical recycling and composting.
6.1 Hydrolytic degradation
Chemical degradation by hydrolysis is the main mechanism involved in PLA degradation, particularly in composters. Due to the presence of ester bonds between each monomer unit, polyesters are sensitive to hydrolysis.
Water molecules will react with PLA by cutting the easily cleavable ester bonds (figure...
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Ageing – Degradation and stability
End of life
Bibliography
- (1) - E. B. &. N. Institute - « http://www.european-bioplastics.org » [En ligne] (décembre 2016).
- (2) - Natureworks -...
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