Rapid stereocomplex formation of polylactide using supercritical fluid technology

It is generally believed that stereocomplex polylactide is a prospect for rigorous application in the future due to enhancement of the physical properties of its homopolymers. There have been many studies about the formation and characterization of this stereocomplex. However, we are the first to report that supercritical fluid technology can yield a high-degree stereocomplex polylactide (ca 98%) in a relatively short time (1 min). This method generated a dry product and feasible for polylactide with weight-average molecular weight (Mw) up to 70 000-160 000 g mol-1 or higher by modifying the material feed of the homopolymer. The feasible term is used to explained that our system is suitable for stereocomplexation of the polylactide material with molecular weight 70 000-160 000 or above. We also discovered that modification of the material feed did not affect the properties of the stereocomplex polylactide generated. The process and outcome of this research indicate that supercritical fluid technology is suitable for a continuous stereocomplex polylactide formation process. Copyright (C) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry