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SUMMARY:Poly(lactic acid): Understanding Structure-Property-Degradability R
 elationships for Carbon Storage in Soil
LOCATION:Chemistry A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20251105T160000
UID:2026-05-19-12-26-11@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260519T122611
Description:About the seminar:\n\nCommercial biopolymer poly(lactic acid) (
 PLA) is a potential carbon storage material in soil due to its resistance 
 to microbial attack. However\, the investigation of degradability of biolo
 gical production of PLA homopolymer has not been reported. Thus\, it remai
 ns unclear how bio-produced PLA degrades in soil and how its molecular str
 ucture-property relationships influence this process. Numerous studies hav
 e investigated the degradation of PLA-based materials in soil under both n
 atural and controlled conditions. Some focused on morphological changes\, 
 while others employed analytical techniques to track changes in molecular 
 structure and properties. These studies concluded that commercial PLA show
 ed either no degradation or insignificant changes in soil under both condi
 tions. In contrast\, poly(lactic acid) as a copolymer with poly(hydroxy bu
 tyrate)\, synthesized by genetically modified bacteria\, has been shown to
  fully degrade. Although this report provides insights into bacterial PLA\
 , the degradation matrix was ocean water – not soil. This motivates the 
 need for biological production of PLA homopolymer\, especially from plants
 \, and investigation of its degradability in soil under natural conditions
 . This seminar will discuss the analytical techniques used in PLA degradat
 ion studies\, address open questions\, and introduce approaches for charac
 terizing bio-produced PLA as a candidate for carbon storage.  4:00 pm
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