Composite materials are emerging as a vital entity for the sustainable development of both humans and the environment. Polylactic acid (PLA) has been recognized as a potential polymer candidate with attractive characteristics for applications in both the engineering and medical sectors. Hence, the present article throws lights on the essential physical and mechanical properties of PLA that can be beneficial for the development of composites, biocomposites, films, porous gels, and so on. The article discusses various processes that can be utilized in the fabrication of PLA-based composites. In a later section, we have a detailed discourse on the various composites and nanocomposites-based PLA along with the properties’ comparisons, discussing our investigation on the effects of various fibers, fillers, and nanofillers on the mechanical, thermal, and wear properties of PLA. Lastly, the various applications in which PLA is used extensively are discussed in detail.

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Critical Review on Polylactic Acid: Properties, Structure, Processing, Biocomposites, and Nanocomposites

Water-stable, strong, biodegradable lignocellulose straws replacement for plastic straws

Though rational and moral antecedents to tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions have been separately established, the literature remains inconclusive on whether tourists’ pro-environmental intentions are underpinned by rational or moral considerations. Based on the theory of planned behavior and the norm activation model, this study examines the competing rational and moral antecedents of intention to use reusable alternatives to single-use plastics using data obtained from 653 tourists and analyzed with the structural equation modeling. The results indicate that though morality better explained the intention to use reusable alternatives to single-use plastics amongst all tourists, rationality underpinned the intention amongst domestic tourists while morality better explained the intentions of international tourists. The implications of these findings regarding future theorization of tourists’ pro-environmental behavior and measures to reduce single-use plastic marine pollution in coastal destinations are discussed.

Alice Guittard

Papers

On single use plastic straws: Pre-ban findings on touristic beaches in Crete