PLA bioplastic production: From monomer to the polymer

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) plastics is of great significance to the sustainable development of the world. Today, most PLA is prepared by ring-opening polymerization of lactide (LT) synthesized from lactic acid (LA). The production capacity of high-quality LA is the basis for the production of PLA bioplastics. And, as the key intermediate for PLA synthesis, lactide (LT) also has a profound impact on the whole PLA industrial chain. The production ca-pacity of LT is directly related to the application scale of PLA, and chemical purity and optical purity of LT significantly affect the properties of synthesized PLA. In this work, the research progresses on LA, LT, and PLA in recent years are sorted out to provide a comprehensively and systematic review. Apart from the introduction of the whole process of PLA production, this review highlights some of the latest methods with significant ad-vantages in energy consumption, reaction integration, efficiency and yield in the production process.

Automated summary

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) plastics are of great significance to the sustainable development of the world. The production of PLA involves the synthesis of lactide (LT) from lactic acid (LA) and the subsequent ring-opening polymerization. The quality and capacity of LA and LT directly affect the production and properties of PLA. This review summarizes the recent research progress on LA, LT, and PLA, and highlights the latest methods with significant advantages in energy consumption, reaction integration, efficiency, and yield in the production process.