@conference{
author = "Milovanović, Stoja and Pantić, Milica and Pavlović, Stefan M. and Novak, Zoran",
year = "2022",
abstract = "Polylactide (PLA) is a versatile polymer with a variety of applications from consumer goods (e.g. disposable cutlery, food, and beverage packaging) to medical (e.g. disposable protective garments, implants), agriculture (e.g. mulch films), etc [1]. However, its use as porous materials is still limited [2]. In order to increase possible PLA-based material applications, the present work was focused on the preparation of PLA aerogels with defined morphology. For
this purpose, three polymer solvents were tested (chloroform, dichloromethane, and dioxane). PLA solutions, prepared at room temperature, were immersed in antisolvent (absolute ethanol) for solvent replacement prior to drying. Obtained alcogels were dried using supercritical CO
2 at 150 bar and 35 °C in a combination of static and dynamic regimes up to 3 h [3] for aerogel production. While chloroform and dichloromethane enabled the production of stable material, the use of dioxane as a solvent led to the formation of aerogels that were crumbling during retrieving from a high-pressure drying unit. Stable aerogels were further characterized using scanning electron microscopy, water displacement method, mercury intrusion porosimetry, gas adsorption-desorption analysis as well as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry combined with differential scanning calorimetry. After the selection of optimal solvent, two temperatures for solvent replacement with anti-solvent ethanol were compared (-20 and 22 °C). Results showed that both solvent selection as well as temperature for solvent replacement have a significant effect on the morphology of PLA aerogels. The density of aerogels ranged from 0.34 to 0.47 g/cm3 while its porosity ranged from 62.6 to 73.0% [3].",
journal = "2nd International Conference on Aerogels for Biomedical and Environmental Applications (AERoGELS2022), 29 June–1 July 2022, Athens, Greece",
title = "Influence of solvent selection and temperature for solvent replacement on the morphology of PLA aerogels",
pages = "P-24",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_technorep_6903"
}