Goodfellow Announces Major Extension of Their Range of Polylactic Acid (PLA) Granules

In keeping with the increasing demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly materials, Goodfellow are pleased to announce a major expansion of their range of PLA granules. The extended range includes a variety of differing melt flow rate (MFR) materials suitable for extrusion and injection moulding.

Polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA) is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch (in the United States), tapioca roots, chips or starch (mostly in Asia), or sugarcane (in the rest of the world). It is indeed a polyester, not a polyacid (polyelectrolyte) as its name erroneously implies.

For customers, the addition of these new grades enhances the Goodfellow green materials range and extends the options available for biodegradable polymers. Data sheets providing details of properties, applications and processing conditions may be downloaded by clicking on a catalogue item number below.

*While we do not have molecular weight (Mw) information for these new grades, there is a loose correlation between MFR and Mw: Low melt flow rate = high melt viscosity = high molecular weight; high melt flow rate = low melt viscosity = low molecular weight.

For more information about the properties and potential of PLA granules, contact the Goodfellow Technical Team at technical@goodfellow.com.

For more information about Goodfellow’s Green Production Initiative, click here.