Degradation of Structurally Modified Polylactide under the Controlled Composting of Food Waste

Degradation of Structurally Modified Polylactide under the Controlled Composting of Food Waste

The degradation of polylactide (PLA) films of different structures under conditions of controlled composting has been studied. We have demonstrated that PLA underwent degradation within one month in a substrate that simulated standard industrial composting. Regardless of the initial structure of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elena Trofimchuk, Valeria Ostrikova, Olga Ivanova, Marina Moskvina, Anna Plutalova, Tatyana Grokhovskaya, Anna Shchelushkina, Alexander Efimov, Elena Chernikova, Shenghua Zhang, Vladimir Mironov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-10-01
Series:Polymers
Subjects:
polylactide
composting
hydrolytic degradation
biodegradation
structure
gel permeation chromatography
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/19/4017
Description
Summary:The degradation of polylactide (PLA) films of different structures under conditions of controlled composting has been studied. We have demonstrated that PLA underwent degradation within one month in a substrate that simulated standard industrial composting. Regardless of the initial structure of the samples, the number-average molecular weight (M<sub>n</sub>) decreased to 4 kDa while the degree of crystallinity increased to about 70% after 21 days of composting. Addition of an inoculant to the standard substrate resulted in the accelerated degradation of the PLA samples for one week due to an abiotic hydrolysis. These findings have confirmed that industrial composting could solve the problem of plastic disposal at least for PLA.
ISSN:2073-4360

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