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Preparation and characterization of cellulose-g-PLA copolymers

The production of fully biodegradable materials is receiving large attention in the research community and industry due to the environmental awareness that favors environmentally friendly products. A big advantage of biodegradable polymeric materials is compostability. Among materials that have received a great deal of attention is cellulose due to its physical properties and chemical reactivity. Cellulose is the most abundant organic raw material, inexpensive, biodegradable and renewable resource that finds applications in areas as diverse as composite materials, textiles, drug delivery systems and personal care products. The grafting of synthetic polymers onto cellulose is an effective technique for modifying its properties but use of monomers from natural resources has attracted interest, too. Grafting copolymerization of e.g. vinyl monomers onto cellulose has the advantage of allowing obtaining properties of both monomer and cellulose. Also, the possibility of synthetizing polymers using monomers from natural resources provides a new direction to develop biodegradable polymers from renewable resources whereat one of the most promising polymers in this regard is poly(lactic acid) (PLA), because it is made from agricultural products and it is readily biodegradable. It appears to be one of the most attractive materials for various applications due to its facile availability, good biodegradability and good mechanical properties. In this work, we investigated the grafting of polylactide onto cellulose in various medium: 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (ionic liquid), dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl formamide. In addition, we evaluated the possibility of tailoring the PLA-g-cellulose for mixing with commercial PLA and prospective compatibilzers for cellulose/PLA blends.

biobased materials, biodegradation, cellulose, polylactide, grafted copolymers

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