Polylactide(PLA) is a kind of important biomedical material for its biodegradability in vivo

innocuity and safe

which has obtained great application in clinic.In order to match the more complex application

it is required to control the degradation rate and mechanical properties of PLA

or to improve its hydrophilicity

biocompatibility and cell affinity etc.So a series of PLA and its copolymers were designed

synthesized and the properties were further characterized.In this paper the progress about the research field decribed above was reviewed. According to the authors’years of research on synthesis and properties characterization of PLA and its copolymers

the paper are classfied as four categories to discuss:(1) copolymerization of lactide with other lactone-type monomers;(2) copolymerization of lactide with macromolecular monomer such as poly (ethylene glycol);(3) copolymerization of lactide with monomers with functional groups;(4) copolymerization of lactide with other natural derivative materials

and their potential applications in biomedical field were described.