Polylactide (PLA) particles become increasingly important for practical applications as typical sustainable polymeric materials; however, their preparation still remains as a big challenge due to lacking effective preparation method directly starting from monomer lactide (LA) and lactic acid. In this study, we established an unprecedented strategy for preparing PLA particles in a high yield (>90 wt%) — precipitation polymerization of LA in ethyl acetate at 0 °C. The method provides PLA particles with narrowly distributed size. Phase separation occurred in the course of precipitation polymerization and endowed the PLA particles with interesting porous structures. The particles and their formation process were investigated by SEM, CD, XRD and DSC analyses. Noticeably, the size of PLA particles and the porous structure can be tuned through controlling the crystallization of PLA by adding D-LA in the polymerization system of L-LA. We further explored chiral recognition ability of the PLLA particles. The established strategy provides promising approaches for preparing novel PLA-based materials.

聚丙交酯（PLA）颗粒作为典型的可持续聚合物材料，在实际应用中变得越来越重要。然而，由于缺乏直接从单体丙交酯（LA）和乳酸开始的有效制备方法，它们的制备仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在这项研究中，我们建立了以高收率（> 90 wt％）制备PLA颗粒的空前策略-LA在0°C的乙酸乙酯中沉淀聚合。该方法提供了具有窄分布尺寸的PLA颗粒。在沉淀聚合过程中发生相分离，并使PLA颗粒具有有趣的多孔结构。通过SEM，CD，XRD和DSC分析研究了颗粒及其形成过程。明显地，通过在L-LA的聚合体系中加入D-LA来控制PLA的结晶，可以调节PLA颗粒的大小和多孔结构。我们进一步探索了PLLA颗粒的手性识别能力。既定的策略为制备新型的PLA基材料提供了有希望的方法。