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A Biodegradable Stereo-Complexed Poly (Lactic Acid) Drinking Straw of High Heat Resistance and Performance
Summary
Researchers developed a fully biodegradable drinking straw from stereocomplex poly(lactic acid) — formed by blending two mirror-image versions of the polymer — achieving over 70% crystallinity, less than 5% loss of flexural strength when wet, and a production cost of about 2 cents per straw, outperforming existing biodegradable alternatives.
Current biodegradable drinking straws suffer from poor heat resistance and rigidity when wet, causing user dissatisfaction. Here, a fully biodegradable straw formed by stereocomplexation of poly (lactic acid) (SC-PLA) is reported. Because of the unique strong interaction and high density of link chains between stereocomplex crystallites (over 70% crystallinity), SC-PLA straws outperform their counterparts on the market. This coupled with the advantages of simple processing (solution casting and annealing) and relatively low cost (~2.06 cents per straw) makes SC-PLA drinking straws a superior substitute for plastic ones. Commercially available PLLA straws lose almost 60% of their flexural strength when wet compared to less than 5% of the SC-PLA straws proposed in this study.