Abstract
Recently, from the viewpoint that decreases the load to the global environment, the bio-plastics, which are derived from the reusable resources from the biomass, attract much attention as new polymeric materials instead of the polymers derived from exhaustible resources such as petroleum. Poly lactic acid (PLA) is considered to be one of the most promising bio-plastics because its strength and modulus are as high as that of the existing plastic, and it has also biodegradability. In this study, we investigated the effect of immersion in gasoline on mechanical properties of injection-molded PLA plates in the case of assuming that PLA will be applied to severe environment such as in contact with gasoline.
