Chemical modifications of PLA through copolymerization

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is an important biomaterial with its easy availability and wide spread acceptability in biomedical field. The most appreciable characteristic nature of PLA is its versatility itself, even though certain drawbacks of PLA like hydrophobicity, lack of reactive functional groups, poor toughness and slow biodegradation rates limits its uses in various sectors. Therefore in the past few decades research interests have grown to overcome these limitations. Many researchers have reported different physical and chemical modifications for augmenting the inherent properties of PLA so that its applications can be widened. Generally, methods such as copolymerization, blending, incorporation of chemicals or additives, plasma treatment were executed in order to enhance its property. Out of these, copolymerization method is the one favored by most researchers. Moreover PLA copolymers can also be used in biomedical field too. Therefore, extensive research works were conducted on copolymerization method. However, to the best of our knowledge, an overview focusing mainly on the properties of PLA modified by copolymerization technique was not yet reviewed till date. This review article summarizes the chemical modifications of PLA through copolymerization technique along with the characterization methods used for the confirmation of copolymer formation and various enhanced properties and their applications in biomedical field are discussed.