Preparation and degradation of cellulose-polylactide grafted copolymer

Cellulose-graft-poly ( L-lactide ) ( cellulose-g-PLLA ) and cellulose-graft-poly ( DL-lactide ) ( cellulose-g-PDLLA ) were successfully prepared via ring-opening polymerization by using 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) as an organic catalyst in an ionic liquid 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AmimCl). The structure and morphology of the polymer were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), differential scanning calorimetry measurement (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray powder diffraction (WAXD), showing the glass transition temperature (Tg) of these two polymers were 45.6 and 40.3 0 C, respectively, and all of them were amorphous state. The results indicated that materials with low degree of crystallinity showed higher degradability. In contrast, the acid, enzyme, alkaline, phosphate buffered saline ( PBS) and H2 O degradated material decreased the rate of polymer degradation. In addition, high levels of graft degree of this material resulted in a decrease in degradation.