Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) enhanced properties make a big difference

Among the various biopolymers, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is the ideal choice to achieve these goals because it is compostable and can be produced from renewable resources, however, pure PLA materials also have some shortcomings, such as poor hydrophilicity, poor mechanical properties and lack of antimicrobial functionality, which limit their range of applications.  

In Europe, packaging applications are the largest application sector for the plastic industry and represent 39.9% of the total plastic demand, which was around 20 Mton in 2017 and the main challenge in the industry is to help the global economy become more environmentally sustainable. There is an increasing trend towards replacing conventional fossil-based plastics with bioplastics. The development of bio-based antimicrobial packaging polymers is in great demand in order to overcome the huge environmental impact of conventional fossil-based plastic materials and guarantee food protection against physical, chemical, and microbiological effects that is why bio-based materials have attracted extensive interest in the packaging field. 

The main project objectives are:

• To achieve sustainable bioplastic materials with suitable mechanical and antimicrobial properties thanks to the combination of PLA with natural fibres and inexpensive antimicrobial glasses.
• To demonstrate the antimicrobial effectiveness of the composite
• To surpass the mechanical properties of pure PLA polymeric materials.
• To maintain the environmental advantage of PLA polymers, particularly the compostability of the composite.