Kinetics of Ring-Opening Polymerization of L-lactide by Using a Tubular Static Mixing Reactor

The kinetics of ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide in a tubular static mixing reactor was investigated for the first time. The polymerization of L-lactide was initiated by stannous octoate/triphenylphosphine catalyst system at a temperature of 170 degrees C - 190 degrees C and molar ratio of monomer to initiator of 1000:1 - 2500:1. The experimental results showed that the polymerization of L-lactide is first-order in monomer and catalyst concentration. Furthermore, the apparent activation energy of 58.0 kJ mol-1 obtained in this study was compared with other reports. The result indicated that less energy consumption was needed by using a tubular static mixing reactor as the polymerization reactor. The tubular static mixing reactor could be a promising apparatus for ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide with low energy consumption.