Teijin has developed a new polylactic acid (PLA) with controllable and faster degradation rate
On December 7, 2022, Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd., a fiber and product processing company of the Teijin Group, announced that it has developed a practical polylactic acid (PLA) resin that, compared with conventional PLA products, is more effective in marine , biodegradation in rivers and soil is faster. By adding a new biodegradation accelerator to the polymer, Teijin Frontier PLA resin can increase the biodegradation rate without affecting practicality such as strength and plasticity.
Teijin Frontier will start production and sales of new PLA resin pellets in fiscal year 2023 (end of March 2024), as well as films, injection molding and extrusion products, textiles and nonwovens produced with it, with the goal of 2026 Achieved sales of hundreds of millions of yen in the fiscal year.
Generally, when PLA polymers are hydrolyzed with Mn (number average molecular weight) less than 10000, they can serve as food for bacteria and fungi and decompose into carbon dioxide and water. The newly developed product promotes hydrolysis and reduces molecular weight faster than additive-free PLA polymers. Therefore, biodegradation is faster even in oceans, rivers and soil. On the other hand, the molecular weight decreases only slightly during processing and storage.
According to the verification test conducted by Teijin Frontier, the degradation period is about six months to two years, which can be controlled by adjusting the conditions and amounts of biodegradation accelerators added. Thus, the degradation time can be adjusted according to the life expectancy of a particular item, such as agricultural and fishery products.
