One-step synthesis of L- Lactide from Lactic acid using a heterogeneous catalyst

Abstract

The long-term approach to reduce the harmful environmental effects of plastic pollution, as illustrated by the marine accumulation of inert microplastics, includes the 11 development of biodegradable plastics (1,2). Bioplastics made from natural plants have recently received much interest from the perspectives of reusability and climate change. Two main factors influencing the hunt for biodegradable and renewable materials are limited availability of fossil fuels and plastic waste in our oceans (3). The most common synthetic bio-based plastic on the market is polylactic acid (PLA), (4) which has many uses. Biomedical and chemical products also frequently use polylactic acid which is regarded as a representative bio-based, biodegradable polymer in packaging, textiles, coatings, and biomedicine (3).