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Abiotic and biotic degradation of aliphatic polyesters from “petro” versus “green” resources
Author(s) -
Karlsson Sigbritt,
Albertsson AnnChristine
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.19981270129
Subject(s) - abiotic component , degradation (telecommunications) , polyester , chemistry , materials science , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , ecology , engineering , biology , telecommunications
Aliphatic polyesters are degradable by abiotic and/or biotic hydrolysis. The accessibility of a polymer to degradative attack by living organisms is not dependent on its origin, but on its molecular composition and architecture. Synthetic polymers with intermittent ester linkage ( e.g. polyesters, polyurethanes etc. ) are accessible to biodegradative attack of esterase. On the other hand aliphatic polyesters are also quickly degraded by a pure abiotic hydrolysis. The results from abiotic and biotic hydrolyses of polycaprolactone (PCL) (from “petro” resource), poly(L‐lactide) (PLLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) (from “green” resources) are presented and discussed with the respect to rate of degradation, molecular weight changes and degradation product pattern. For the environmental consequences, the type of formed degradation products are of importance and not the origin of the polymer.