Synthetic petroleum-based plastics have contributed to the development of the packaging industry with their excellent properties, low cost and processability. However, indiscriminate and tremendous use of plastic packaging is considered to be the main source of environmental pollution, such as vast amounts of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and ecological hazards in case of leakage to the natural world. To this end, global interest in environmental protection is increasing, and there is a continuous movement to replace existing plastic packaging materials to green materials. In line with this, poly(α-hydroxy acids) (PAHAs) based synthetic biopolymer groups such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) have been actively studied due to their biodegradability and biocompatibility.  Among them, PLA is currently the most commercially available polymer in the biopolymer packaging market due to its process applicability and acceptable physical properties. On the other hand, starting materials for PGA synthesis such as glycolic acid and glycolide are relatively expensive compared to biodegradable materials and scale-up technology has not been secured through efficient production. However, PGA is being applied as a promising polymer in the biomedical field due to its excellent biocompatibility, barrier properties, and mechanical properties. On the other hand, the molecular weight of the polymer is one of the significant factors for packaging applications because it affects its properties and process techniques. However, it is difficult to synthesize high molecular weight PGA because it has low thermal stability above the melting point and produces water as a synthetic by-product. Therefore, further research work is needed to synthesize high molecular weight of PGA using a simple and low-cost process. In this study, we synthesize PGA using simple melt-solid polycondensation without solvent. Further, optimal synthesis conditions are analyzed by comparing properties of final products such as crystal size, molecular weight, thermal stability.

Green synthesis of high molecular weight poly glycolic acid (PGA)

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