*Review* **Crosslinking of Polylactide by High Energy Irradiation and Photo-Curing**

#### **Melania Bednarek 1,\*, Katarina Borska 1,2 and Przemysław Kubisa 1**


## Academic Editor: Dimitrios Bikiaris

Received: 29 September 2020; Accepted: 20 October 2020; Published: 23 October 2020

**Abstract:** Polylactide (PLA) is presently the most studied bioderived polymer because, in addition to its established position as a material for biomedical applications, it can replace mass production plastics from petroleum. However, some drawbacks of polylactide such as insu fficient mechanical properties at a higher temperature and poor shape stability have to be overcome. One of the methods of mechanical and thermal properties modification is crosslinking which can be achieved by di fferent approaches, both at the stage of PLA-based materials synthesis and by physical modification of neat polylactide. This review covers PLA crosslinking by applying di fferent types of irradiation, i.e., high energy electron beam or gamma irradiation and UV light which enables curing at mild conditions. In the last section, selected examples of biomedical applications as well as applications for packaging and daily-use items are presented in order to visualize how a variety of materials can be obtained using specific methods.

**Keywords:** polylactide; poly(lactic acid); crosslinking; photo-crosslinking; irradiation; electron-beam; gamma rays
