Hyeon Jeong Seo, Yeong Hyun Seo, Sang Uk Park, Hyun Ju Lee, Mi Ryu Lee, Jun Hyeong Park, Woo Yeon Cho, Pyung Cheon Lee, Bun Yeoul Lee
Polylactic acid (PLA) stands as a promising material, sourced from renewables and exhibiting biodegradability-albeit under stringent industrial composting settings. A primary challenge impeding PLA's broad applications is its inherent brittleness, as it fractures with minimal elongation despite its commendable tensile strength. A well-established remedy involves blending PLA with plasticizers. In this study, a range of organic carbonates-namely, 4-ethoxycarbonyloximethyl-[1,3]dioxolan-2-one (1), 4-methoxycarbonyloximethyl-[1,3]dioxolan-2-one (2), glycerol carbonate (3), and glycerol 1-acetate 2,3-carbonate (4)-were synthesized on a preparative scale (∼100 g), using renewable glycerol and CO2 -derived diethyl carbonate (DEC) or dimethyl carbonate (DMC)...
January 31, 2024: RSC Advances