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New chitin‐based polymer hybrids, 4: soil burial degradation behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitin derivative miscible blends
Author(s) -
Takasu Akinori,
Aoi Keigo,
Tsuchiya Maki,
Okada Masahiko
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19990815)73:7<1171::aid-app10>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - chitin , vinyl alcohol , biodegradation , polymer chemistry , materials science , polymer blend , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , nuclear chemistry , degradation (telecommunications) , polymer , chemical engineering , chemistry , chitosan , organic chemistry , copolymer , composite material , telecommunications , computer science , engineering
Soil burial degradation behavior of miscible blend systems of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/partially deacetylated chitin (1), PVA/chitin‐ graft ‐poly(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline) (2), and PVA/chitin‐ graft ‐poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) (3) was investigated in comparison with the case of a pure PVA film. The degradation of the blend films was followed by the weight changes, scanning electron microscopic observation, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1 H‐NMR, and size exclusion chromatography analyses. The rate of weight decrease in these PVA/chitin derivative hybrids was higher than that of control PVA in the soil burial test. Fourier transform infrared spectra of the recovered samples of the blends showed an apparent increase of the absorption intensity due to β‐diketone structure in PVA, which reflects the progress of biodegradation of PVA by PVA‐oxidizing enzymes. Scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that these blend films were degraded by bacteria and actinomycetes. The triad tacticity and number‐average molecular weight of PVA in the hybrids after soil burial determined by 1 H‐NMR and size exclusion chromatography, respectively, were almost the same as those before soil burial. These results suggested that enzymatic degradation of the hybrid films occurred mainly on the surface and that degradation of the PVA‐based samples in the soil was accelerated by blending the chitin derivatives. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 1171–1179, 1999