Poly(lactic Acid) Science and Technology ― Processing, Properties, Additives, and Applications

Editors Jim<’e>nez, Peltzer, and Ruseckaite present students, academics, researchers, and professionals working in a wide variety of contexts with a collection of academic papers and scholarly articles focused on the basic concepts of poly(lactic acid) or PLA, PLA synthesis, the characteristics and properties of PLA, PLA-based nano-biocomposites, and a variety of other related subjects. The editors have organized the fourteen contributions that make up the main body of the text in six parts devoted to the degradation and biodegradation of PLA, industrial and legislative issues regarding PLA, PLA main applications, and other topics. Alfonso Jim<’e>nez and Mercedes Peltzer are faculty members of the University of Alicante, Spain. Roxana Ruseckaite is a faculty member of the National University of Mar del Plata, Argentina. Distributed in the US by Ingram Publisher Services. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Alfonso Jimenez is a Full Professor in Analytical Chemistry and Food Processing and head of the Polymer and Nanomaterials Analysis Group at the University of Alicante, Spain. He has edited or co-edited 13 books in polymer degradation, stabilization and biodegradable and sustainable composites and authored over 80 research papers published in journals in the area of analytical chemistry and polymer science. His main research areas are the chemical characterization of polymers and biopolymers, environmentally-friendly additives in polymers, characterization of biodegradable polymers and sustainable composites, modification of PLA for flexible films manufacturing and natural antioxidants for active packaging.

Mercedes A. Peltzer is a Post-Doc Fellow at the University of Alicante, Spain (since 2009). Her main research areas include processing, characterization and application of polymers for food contact materials,processing polymeric materials based in polyolefins and biodegradable matrices, polymer and biopolymer characterization and the development of active packaging systems.

Roxana A. Ruseckaite is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the National University of Mar del Plata, Argentina and Senior Researcher on Polymer Science at the Polymer Division, Research Institute on Materials Science and Technology, Mar del Plata (Argentina). She has published over 40 articles and 14 book chapters on polymers, biopolymers, biocomposites, biodegradation and films for packaging. Her main research areas are: design and evaluation of active films from proteins, design and characterization of nano-biocomposites, studies on polymer and composites biodegradation and the development and evaluation of environmentally sound adhesives from renewable resources.