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[Chemical Knowledge]：PLA production and manufacturing methods and processes.

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Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable plastic that can be made from raw starch extracted from renewable plant resources such as corn starch. PLA has been widely used in the production of biodegradable plastic products, and has attracted much attention because of its unique environmental protection characteristics and biocompatibility. This article will introduce the manufacturing method of PLA in detail, including raw material processing, lactic acid preparation, polymerization reaction, post-treatment and other steps.

1. raw material processing

The first step in the manufacture of PLA is to process raw materials, usually corn, sugar cane, potato and other crops as the main raw materials. These raw materials are rich in starch, which needs to be converted into lactic acid, which can be used for the production of PLA. The treatment process mainly includes starch extraction, saccharification, fermentation and other steps.

1. starch extraction: through physical or chemical methods to extract the starch in raw materials, commonly used methods are grinding, soaking, enzymatic hydrolysis and so on.
2. Saccharification: The extracted starch is converted into fermentable sugars, usually by enzymatic hydrolysis of the starch to glucose.
3. Fermentation: Fermentation of glucose to lactic acid using microorganisms. Commonly used microorganisms are lactic acid bacteria, rhizobia and so on.

2. lactic acid preparation

in the fermentation process, microorganisms convert glucose into lactic acid, and lactic acid can be extracted by certain technical means to prepare for the next step of polymerization. The preparation methods of lactic acid include chemical synthesis and microbial fermentation, among which microbial fermentation is the most commonly used method.

3. Polymerization Reaction

After lactic acid is prepared, a polymerization reaction needs to be carried out to connect lactic acid molecules into polylactic acid molecules. The polymerization reaction may be carried out in a solution or in a molten state. Commonly used polymerization methods are bulk polymerization, solution polymerization, emulsion polymerization, etc. In the polymerization process, it is necessary to control the reaction temperature, pH value, catalyst and other factors to ensure the smooth progress of the polymerization reaction.

4. post-treatment

After the polymerization reaction is completed, the polymer needs to be post-treated to obtain the final PLA product. Post-treatment includes washing, drying, granulation and other steps to remove impurities in the polymer and improve the purity and performance of the product.

In summary, the manufacturing method of PLA includes the steps of raw material processing, lactic acid preparation, polymerization reaction and post-treatment, each of which requires fine control to ensure the quality and performance of the final product. In the actual production process, it is necessary to adjust and optimize according to the specific situation to improve production efficiency and product quality. In addition to the application of

in the field of chemical production raw materials, PLA also has a wide range of applications in many other fields, such as medical devices, packaging materials, textiles, etc. With the increasing emphasis on environmental protection and sustainable development, the future market prospect of PLA is very broad.

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