Jun Ling's answer is perfect, only thing I would like to add is that in order to accelerate the dissolution process, you can heat your solution for a finite amount of time.

Yes, I mean poly(lactide acid), but in a mixed of acetone/CHCl3 , but I have to use acetone ... :S and I don't want to degradate the polymer with heat I'm using emulsification/difussion method to do nanoparticles...

or I should dissolved first PLA in CHCl3 and then in acetone?? because some articles say that I have to mixed acetone and CHCl3 to equilibrate the system...

You might want to try N,N- Dimethylformamide (DMF).

The DMF reacts with PLA. Regarding to the question of tatiana my personal suggestion is to dissolve first the PLA on Dichlorometane or chloroform and after add extra acetone to the desired concentration.

To mi knowledge the PLA is soluble on acetone but is not easy to dissolve in it,, but once the PLA is in solution is fully compatible with acetone.

Hi regarding to my last answer .. im not very sure about it. i mean I have seen something strange into PLA /DMF mixtures ... but dont know if if the plastificiser of my PLA or what ... :)

Jon Trifol: Yes, PLA can be soluble in chloroform, just I had to spend a little more time to dissolved it on it.. but it worked ;)

I dissolve my PLA in methylene chloride (dichloromethane), and then mix it with acetone when I make my nanoparticles. It takes some time and some heat, but I've been successful with it so far.

Semi-crystalline poly(L-lactic acid) can completely dissolve in chloroform and dichloromethane. Amorphous poly(D,L-lactic acid) can completely dissolve in acetone, THF, chlorofoem and dichloromethane.

If you have trouble dissolving your polymer in a known solvent, try placing the sample in a sonicator and/or warm water bath.

I dissolve PLLA with chloroform. THF didn't work. Does anyone have experience with spin coating of dissolved PLLA?

You can dissolve either in chloroform solution or DCM solvent.Semi-crystalline poly(L-lactic acid) can completely dissolve in chloroform and dichloromethane. Amorphous poly(D,L-lactic acid) can completely dissolve in acetone, THF, chlorofoRm and dichloromethane.

Solve pla in moderate concentration in ch3cl and sonicate,

between 8-10 wt% is Ok.

I'm having some problems dissolving mPEG-PLGA... does anyone knows a good solvent for me? I tried with pure Acetone, a mixture of Acetone/Water or Acetone/MeOH with different ratio (2:1, 1:1, 1:2), Acetonitrile and a mixture Acetone/DCM 8:2... Nothing seems to really work :(

Dear sir,

Which solvent can i use ...?pls can i use dioxane .....

Valeria Gabrielli , You can try pure Chloroform or Dichloromethane. Both can work ...

PLA dissolution in chloroform is very slow (i.e. under vigorous stirring overnight), you can either use pure DCM or a chloroform/dichloromethane mixture. 

Hi,

Some new experience about dissolving PLLA:

High Mw PLLA like Resomer L210S from Evonik dissolves quickly in chloroform but it may take even few days to dissolve it in DCM. After one thermal processing cycle (f.e. compression molding in 220 C deg.) Mw of PLLA drops 2 - 4 times and then it is easier to dissolve it.

Hi,

PLA is easily to be soluble in 2, 2, 2-triflouro ethanol (TFE) using water bath sonicator.

You can use a mixture of chloroform/dichloromethane under stiring.

Do not hesitate to heat if neccessary.

Acetone or xylene (hot)

The best solvent for PLAis: Tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 40 °C.

The most common solvent is chloroform for pla. Heating will speed up its evaporation and can be a negative point in occasions like making composites, due to the stirring and mixing reduction time which it caused.

What exact problem have you faced to?

I also want to dissolve PLA, basically want to prepare a PLA /CNT composite,

So, looking to a solvent which could disperse cnt as well disolve PLA. Acetone I have heard and read can do the process but is not very well versed. Also, DMF could be a solvent for this, but never used DMF.

Any thoughts? How could I proceed,

CNT may be dispersed in the same PLA solvent and I prefer chloroform for the solvent.

Article PLA Chemical Recycling Process Optimization: PLA Solubilizat...

hi im also having difficulties on dissloving my PLA, i want to use it as a solution to electrospinning process, i have tried DMF and DCM as the solvent but none of it resulted a solution that able to electrospin. On the room temperature with DMF its not completely solute, theres still a suspension of PLA in it, but when i heat it on 70-80 degrees celcius it become a clear solution and when it cool down it become a semi-solid liquid more like a porridge that cannot be spinned. Any thoughts on this?

Hi! Can anyone refer me to a paper on the most effective method to melt PLA pellets? My research involves melting a batch of pure PLA 4032D with chloroform and I wanted to double check if the 1:5 ratio checks out or if there is a more efficient way. I've tried looking into videos for this process for a demo reference but so far it has only been academic papers. Any help/ advice would be appreciated. Cheers!