Structural Analysis of Polylactic Acid in Composite Starch Biopolymers – A Stochastic Dynamics Mass Spectrometric Approach

Since, by 2050 at about 12 thousand metric tons waste of synthetic plastics shall pollute the environment, and only 9% of them have been recycled, there is position involving synthetic plastics replacement with carbohydrates-based eco-friendly bioplastics such as cellulose, starch and polylactic acid (PLA) obtained via starch fermentation. Biodegradable polymers could contain toxic chemicals, however, and there is central issue to assess risk to human health and environment from polymers due to chemical exposure of bioplastics food packing by exact methods for determining chemicals and molecular structure of polymers. Mass spectrometry, due to superior performances occupied irreplaceable place in environmental research and food technologies. It faces, however, challenge in determining carbohydrate 3D molecular structures. This study solves the problem using innovative stochastic dynamics equations for exact data-processing of mass spectrometric measurable variables. It analyses PLA in starch and cellulose bioplastics of single-use drinking cups, films and pellets, bags for foodstuffs, tea bag wrapping pellets, and cigarette filters containing within the 3,479~15,770 chemicals per packing. The study utilizes ultra-high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, static and molecular dynamics quantum chemistry, and chemometrics.