PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING PARTICLES COMPRISING POLYLACTIC ACID

The invention pertains to a process for manufacturing particles comprising a stereocomplex of poly-D-lactide (PDLA) and poly-L-lactide (PLLA). The process comprises the steps of: extruding a melt comprising 30-70 wt.% of PDLA and 70-30 wt.% of PLLA through an sc-PLA formation zone in a twin-screw extruder, wherein the sc-PLA formation zone is operated at a barrel temperature of above the melting temperature of the PDLA and PLLA and below 220 DEG C, the sc-PLA formation zone is followed by a finishing zone, the finishing zone is operated at a barrel temperature below 160 DEG C, the finishing zone is followed by the end of the extruder, and the end of the extruder has a die-head resistance of 0; and recovering solid stereocomplex particles from the end of the extruder. The stereocomplex particles find use in various applications, e.g., in fracking fluids, as filler, as nucleating agent, in particular in the molding of semi-crystalline PLA, or as a starting material for the manufacture ofsc-PLA products such as