Monitoring and kinetic study of alkaline hydrolysis of polylactic acid fibrous membrane via aggregation-induced emission (AIE) technique

Hydrolysis mechanism of polylactic acid (PLA) materials has been the focus of PLA material research. Herein, we report a novel method for monitoring the hydrolysis of PLA. Tetraphenylene aldehyde (TPEA) with aggregation induced emission (AIE) property was synthesized as a fluorescence probe for being introduced into PLA-base fibrous membrane via electrospinning. Then, the obtained TPEA/PLA composite fibrous membrane was hydrolyzed in an aqueous environment with controllable temperature and pH. The detection of PLA hydrolysis was achieved by examining the fluorescence intensity changes caused by the release of TPEA during the hydrolysis. On the basis of the structure study of the prepared fibrous membranes, this study investigated the changes in fluorescence intensity of the degradation environment during the hydrolysis process. The correlation between fluorescence and PLA hydrolysis was investigated with the kinetic research to prove the feasibility of monitoring PLA hydrolysis via AIE technique.