A Mechanochemically Synthesized Vitrimer-Like PLA

Mechanochemistry is an efficient, solvent-reduced, and extra heat-free green chemistry method. In this work, mechanochemistry is applied to the polymerization of PLA. The resulting PLA was esterified with citric acid to obtain a vitrimer-like polymer, which was also carried out via mechanochemistry. These mechanochemistry processes were performed using a planetary ball mill, which is favorable for scale-up synthesis. The synthesized polymer was characterized by NMR and SEC, and the vitrimer-like properties were evaluated by rheology, DSC, TGA, and shape memory behavior. Graphical Using mechanochemistry, PLA is polymerized via an efficient, solvent-reduced, heat-free route. The as-synthesized PLA is then further converted into a vitrimer-like polymer by mechanochemical modification. The resulting material exhibits dynamic network behavior, as confirmed by thermal, rheological, and shape-memory analyses.