Nondegradable synthetic era leads to the environment pollution. So, variousefforts have been done to make products ecofriendly. Many researches have beenconducted to make the polymers biodegradable.
PLA is thebiodegradable natural polymer which has wide applications in textiles. PLA notonly as a product is biodegradable it's raw materials available in nature inthe form of corn, sugar beets, wheat and other starch rich products are alsobiodegradable. PLA degradation is due to hydrolytic cleavage of ester linkageincluded by the water molecules and depolymorisation process. PLA exhibitmechanical properties closer to polyethylene and polystyrene. It is a specialtype of aliphatic polyster. It can be processed like other thermoplasticmaterials to filament or can be molded or blown to produce different plastic products.Since it is biodegradable and can be processed to different products with varietyof properties, it can be used for a wide range of uses from packaging tosurgical sutures.
Globallythe trend is to go back to nature and patronize the natural product. Greenmarketing is the most commonly seen in post industrial affluent societies.Consumers are also much more aware and conscious of what they buy & itsreal impact. Today we are inscribing alarm about nature so this becomes our dutyto nurture it.
Syntheticpolymers depend upon the resources of oil, gases for their monomer source.These resources take millions of years to regenerate. Regular uses of theseresources have created a problem of energy crisis. Also most of syntheticpolymers are not biodegradable. Biodegradable polymers are those which arecompletely converted by microorganism to carbon dioxide, water or methane.
So,attention is focused on synthetic fibres is based on natural renewable resources.PLA (Polylactic Acid) polymer is one of them. PLA belongs to the family of Poly(α hydroxy) acid. Monomer used for the manufacturing PLA is obtained fromrenewable crops.
