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Degradation of Post-consumer PLA: Hydrolysis of Polymeric Matrix and Oligomers Stabilization in Aqueous Phase

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Abstract

Degradation of post-consumer PLA to lactic acid was analysed in order to assess the economic feasibility of the PLA chemical recycling process. Hydrolysis of PLA, in batch reactor, was analysed in the temperature range of 443–473 K, under autogenous pressure and a constant PLA to water ratio (equal to approximately 0.11 by weight), without the use of a catalyst. The experimental results suggest that the complete degradation of PLA can be obtained using relatively low reaction-times with the production of a mixture containing the monomer and traces of the dimer of lactic acid. The overall process was modelled using a two-step process: bulk degradation of PLA (in the solid or molten phase) with the solubilisation of low molecular weight oligomers, and their subsequent hydrolysis in water (stabilization). The model describes the trend of oligomer concentrations in the aqueous phase and PLA conversion as a function of time with both high accuracy and agreement with experimental results.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Claudio Capparucci who helped perform the experimental runs and the students who performed some experimental runs during their master thesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica Materiali Ambiente, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184, Rome, Italy

    Annesini Maria Cristina, Frattari Sara & Gironi Fausto

  2. Faculty of Engineering, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128, Rome, Italy

    Piemonte Vincenzo

  3. Dipartimento di Chimica e Tecnologie del Farmaco, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Sabia Rocchina & Villani Claudio

Authors
  1. Annesini Maria Cristina
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  2. Frattari Sara
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  3. Gironi Fausto
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  4. Piemonte Vincenzo
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  5. Sabia Rocchina
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  6. Villani Claudio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Piemonte Vincenzo.

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Cristina, A.M., Sara, F., Fausto, G. et al. Degradation of Post-consumer PLA: Hydrolysis of Polymeric Matrix and Oligomers Stabilization in Aqueous Phase. J Polym Environ 26, 4396–4404 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-018-1312-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-018-1312-6

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