Effect of Molecular Weight on Degradation Mechanism of Polylactic acid

Aliphatic Polyesters are readily degradable polymers, as hydrolysis being the dominant mechanism of degradation. In this work, the degradation of polylactic acid (PLA) was studied in the molten state by analyzing the rheological properties with the aim of determining effect of molecular weight on degradation mechanism at a given temperature. By study on high molecular weight polylactic acid, we showed that inverse reaction (esterification) was affected by the molecular weight

Keywords:

Polylactic acid (PLA) , Degradation , Rheological Properties , Viscosity