PLA

PLA is a bio-degradable polymer that can be produced from lactic acid, which can be fermented from crops such as Corn. This makes it an ideal candidate for use in certain energy rich, cash poor areas of the world.

It is harder then PTFE and melts at a lower temperature (around 170°C to 210°C), so is potentially a very useful material. It does exhibit higher friction than PTFE however.

For more details, see the Wikipedia entry on Polylactic acid

Availability

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Papers etc

• kim-23-2-6-98033.pdf: Synthesis, Characterization and in Vitro Degradation of Poly(DL-Lactide)/Poly(DL-Lactide-co-Glycolide) Films.

• v30_327_334.pdf: Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) Copolymers: Effects of Stannous Octoate Initiator and Diethylene Glycol Coinitiator Concentrations

• DiscreteYttriumComplexesasLactidePolymerizationCatalysts.pdf: Discrete Yttrium(III) Complexes as Lactide Polymerization Catalysts

• Stereoselective Ring-Opening Polymerization of meso-Lactide: Synthesis of Syndiotactic Poly(lactic acid) Page 1, Page 2, Addendum