Being commercialized in 1992, poly (lactic acid) (PLA) has been considered for biomedical applications and as a reliable substitute for a wide range of commodity and engineering applications where noncompostable petroleum-based polymers are currently being used. However, PLA suffers from series of drawbacks and it would not be applicable unless these shortcomings resolve somewhat. Besides the PLA’s brittleness and low toughness which originate from its higher glass transition temperature, the major shortcomings which negatively influence the other features of PLA are its low melt strength and slow crystallization kinetics. These weaknesses limit the processability, formability and foamability of PLA, and hence, the manufacturing of PLA based products. In this context, the improvement of rheological and viscoelastic properties of PLA is of a great importance as it enhances the melt strength. To control the PLA’s rheological and viscoelastic properties, various attempts such as varying the D-lactide content in PLA molecules, increasing the PLA’s molecular weight, the use of chain extender and branching, controlling the PLA’s crystallization, compounding with micro-/nano-sized fillers and blending with other polymers have been considered. This article critically reviews these studies that have been conducted so far on rheological investigations of various PLA-based systems.

聚乳酸（PLA）于1992年商业化，已被认为可用于生物医学应用，并可作为目前正在使用不可堆肥的石油基聚合物的各种商品和工程应用的可靠替代品。但是，PLA有一系列缺点，除非这些缺点有所解决，否则它将不适用。除了由于玻璃化转变温度较高而导致的PLA脆性和低韧性之外，对PLA的其他特征产生不利影响的主要缺点是熔体强度低，结晶动力学慢。这些弱点限制了PLA的可加工性，可成型性和发泡性，从而限制了PLA基产品的生产。在这种情况下，PLA的流变学和粘弹性的提高非常重要，因为它可以提高熔体强度。为了控制PLA的流变学和粘弹性，进行了各种尝试，例如改变PLA分子中的D-丙交酯含量，增加PLA的分子量，使用扩链剂和支链，控制PLA的结晶以及与微米/纳米级复合已经考虑了填料和与其他聚合物的共混。本文批判性地回顾了迄今为止针对各种基于PLA的系统的流变学研究进行的这些研究。已经考虑使用扩链剂和支链，控制PLA的结晶，与微米/纳米尺寸的填料混合以及与其他聚合物共混。本文批判性地回顾了迄今为止针对各种基于PLA的系统的流变学研究进行的这些研究。已经考虑使用扩链剂和支链，控制PLA的结晶，与微米/纳米尺寸的填料混合以及与其他聚合物共混。本文批判性地回顾了迄今为止针对各种基于PLA的系统的流变学研究进行的这些研究。