A Biodegradable Stereo-Complexed Poly (Lactic Acid) Drinking Straw of High Heat Resistance and Performance

Hugh Gong; Constantinos Soutis; Renzhi Li

doi:10.3390/ma16062438

A Biodegradable Stereo-Complexed Poly (Lactic Acid) Drinking Straw of High Heat Resistance and Performance

Hugh Gong, Constantinos Soutis, Renzhi Li

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Abstract

Current biodegradable drinking straws suffer from poor heat resistance and rigidity when wet, causing user dissatisfaction. Here, a fully biodegradable straw formed by stereocomplexation of poly (lactic acid) (SC-PLA) is reported. Because of the unique strong interaction and high density of link chains between stereocomplex crystallites (over 70% crystallinity), SC-PLA straws outperform their counterparts on the market. This coupled with the advantages of simple processing (solution casting and annealing) and relatively low cost (~2.06 cents per straw) makes SC-PLA drinking straws a superior substitute for plastic ones. Commercially available PLLA straws lose almost 60% of their flexural strength when wet compared to less than 5% of the SC-PLA straws proposed in this study.

Original language	English
Article number	2438
Journal	Materials
Volume	16
Issue number	6
Early online date	18 Mar 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16062438
Publication status	Published - 18 Mar 2023

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title = "A Biodegradable Stereo-Complexed Poly (Lactic Acid) Drinking Straw of High Heat Resistance and Performance",

abstract = "Current biodegradable drinking straws suffer from poor heat resistance and rigidity when wet, causing user dissatisfaction. Here, a fully biodegradable straw formed by stereocomplexation of poly (lactic acid) (SC-PLA) is reported. Because of the unique strong interaction and high density of link chains between stereocomplex crystallites (over 70% crystallinity), SC-PLA straws outperform their counterparts on the market. This coupled with the advantages of simple processing (solution casting and annealing) and relatively low cost (~2.06 cents per straw) makes SC-PLA drinking straws a superior substitute for plastic ones. Commercially available PLLA straws lose almost 60% of their flexural strength when wet compared to less than 5% of the SC-PLA straws proposed in this study.",

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AU - Gong, Hugh

AU - Soutis, Constantinos

AU - Li, Renzhi

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Y1 - 2023/3/18

N2 - Current biodegradable drinking straws suffer from poor heat resistance and rigidity when wet, causing user dissatisfaction. Here, a fully biodegradable straw formed by stereocomplexation of poly (lactic acid) (SC-PLA) is reported. Because of the unique strong interaction and high density of link chains between stereocomplex crystallites (over 70% crystallinity), SC-PLA straws outperform their counterparts on the market. This coupled with the advantages of simple processing (solution casting and annealing) and relatively low cost (~2.06 cents per straw) makes SC-PLA drinking straws a superior substitute for plastic ones. Commercially available PLLA straws lose almost 60% of their flexural strength when wet compared to less than 5% of the SC-PLA straws proposed in this study.

AB - Current biodegradable drinking straws suffer from poor heat resistance and rigidity when wet, causing user dissatisfaction. Here, a fully biodegradable straw formed by stereocomplexation of poly (lactic acid) (SC-PLA) is reported. Because of the unique strong interaction and high density of link chains between stereocomplex crystallites (over 70% crystallinity), SC-PLA straws outperform their counterparts on the market. This coupled with the advantages of simple processing (solution casting and annealing) and relatively low cost (~2.06 cents per straw) makes SC-PLA drinking straws a superior substitute for plastic ones. Commercially available PLLA straws lose almost 60% of their flexural strength when wet compared to less than 5% of the SC-PLA straws proposed in this study.

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ER -

A Biodegradable Stereo-Complexed Poly (Lactic Acid) Drinking Straw of High Heat Resistance and Performance

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