What exactly is PLA and how is it used?
In contrast to the majority of thermoplastic polymers, polylactic acid (PLA) comes from renewable sources such sugar cane or maize starch. Contrarily, the majority of plastics are made by distilling and polymerizing nonrenewable petroleum sources. "Bioplastics" are plastics made from biomass (like PLA, for example).
Polylactic Acid is biodegradable and resembles polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), or polystyrene in terms of its properties (PS). It can be made using currently in use manufacturing machinery (those designed and originally used for petrochemical industry plastics). As a result, production is quite inexpensive. In light of this, PLA has the second-highest volume of manufacture of any bioplastic (the most common typically cited as thermoplastic starch).
The use of polylactic acid is extremely diverse. The most typical applications include those for plastic bottles, films, and biodegradable medical equipment (e.g. screws, pins, rods, and plates that are expected to biodegrade within 6-12 months). Visit this page for additional information about medical device prototypes (both biodegradable and permanent). PLA shrinks when heated, making it an ideal material for shrink wrapping. Also, the simplicity with which Polylactic Acid melts enables a number of intriguing 3D printing applications, including "lost PLA casting" (learn more below). Yet, because of its low glass transition temperature, many PLA products, including plastic cups, are not appropriate for holding hot liquid.
What Kinds of Polylactic Acid Are There, and Why Is It Used So Much?
Racemic PLLA (Poly-L-lactic Acid), Regular PLLA (Poly-L-lactic Acid), PDLA (Poly-D-lactic Acid), and PDLLA are some of the various varieties of Polylactic Acid (Poly-DL-lactic Acid). They are comparable in that they are made from a renewable resource (lactic acid: C3H6O3) as opposed to conventional plastics, which are made from nonrenewable petroleum, but they each have slightly different qualities.
The idea of producing PLA is well-liked since it realizes the aim of producing inexpensive, non-petroleum plastic. The adaptability of PLA as a bioplastic and the fact that it breaks down spontaneously when exposed to the environment are two of its major advantages. For instance, a PLA bottle dumped in the ocean would usually break down after six to twenty-four months. This is extremely amazing when compared to ordinary plastics, which can take hundreds to thousands of years to breakdown in the same environment. As a result, PLA has a great chance of being very helpful in applications with a limited lifespan where biodegradability is particularly advantageous (e.g. as a plastic water bottle or as a container for fruit and vegetables).Notably, PLA is incredibly resilient in any typical application despite its propensity to degrade when exposed to the outdoors over an extended period of time.
One of the two primary plastics used on FDM machines (3D printing) is PLA, which is frequently offered as 3D printable filament. ABS is the second popular 3D printer plastic. Typically, there are many different colors of PLA filament available for 3D printing. Although polylactic acid isn't frequently offered in sheet stock or rod form, it might be CNC machined. Nonetheless, it is frequently offered as a thin film for thermoforming or as plastic pellets for injection molding. Plastic injection mold pellets are often created and/or blended together to modify the material qualities.
"Lost PLA casting" is one of the intriguing things PLA may be used for on a 3D printer. This procedure involves printing PLA in the form of an inner cavity, which is then covered in materials resembling plaster. Due to its lower melting temperature than the surrounding material, the PLA eventually burns away. As a result, there is a gap that can be filled (often with molten metal).
How are PLAs created?
Condensation and polymerization are the two main methods used to create polylactic acid. Ring-opening polymerization is the method of polymerization that is used the most frequently. In this method, lactide is combined with metal catalysts to produce the bigger PLA molecules. The temperature during the procedure and the byproducts (condensates) that are emitted as a result of the reaction are the main differences between the condensation process.
What Qualities Does Polylactic Acid Possess?
Let's look at some of Polylactic Acid's most important characteristics now that we understand what it is used for. Because of how the plastic reacts to heat, PLA is categorized as a "thermoplastic" polyester (as opposed to "thermoset"). When a thermoplastic substance reaches its melting point, it turns liquid (150-160 degrees Celsius in the case of PLA). The ability of thermoplastics to be heated to their melting point, cooled, and then warmed repeatedly without significantly degrading is one of its most advantageous properties. Thermoplastics like Polylactic Acid liquefy rather than burning, making it simple to injection mold and then recycle them. thermoset plastics, however, can only be heated once (typically during the injection molding process).When thermoset materials are heated for the first time, they set (much like 2-part epoxy), causing a chemical alteration that cannot be undone. A thermoset material would burn if you attempted to heat it to a high temperature a second time. Because of this quality, thermoset materials are not good candidates for recycling. The SPI resin identification code for PLA is 7. ("others").
Is PLA poisonous?
No, not in solid form. Polylactic Acid (PLA) is in fact biodegradable. It is frequently employed in food processing and in medical implants that gradually disintegrate inside the body. It has the potential to be harmful if breathed, absorbed into the skin or eyes, or inhaled as a vapor or liquid, like most plastics (i.e. during manufacturing processes). Particularly when handling molten polymer, exercise caution and pay strict attention to the directions.
An article on the Ultrafine Particle (UFP) emissions from commercially accessible 3D printers using ABS and PLA feedstock was recently released by Illinois Institute of Technology researchers. The findings are available here for reading.
What Drawbacks Does Polylactic Acid Have?
The normal range for PLA's glass transition temperature is between 111 and 145 °F. Because of this, it is not really appropriate for high temperature applications. Parts might soften and distort even as a result of anything as simple as a heated car in the summer.
For 3D prototyping, polylactic acid is slightly more brittle than ABS, although it also has some benefits. Read this for a detailed analysis of the two plastics and how they relate to 3D printing.