Abstract
Recently, polyfurfuryl alcohol (PFA) based material has been gaining attention. Despite its use as an intermediate in various industries, the degradation process of PFA has rarely been reported. In this study, neat PFA (PF) and polylactic acid (PLA) incorporated PFA (PF-PL) based thermoset biopolymers were prepared by casting method. The degradation of the prepared biopolymer specimens was carried out under environmental conditions via soil-burial test and photo-degradation method for 21-months. The extent of degradation of PF and PF-PL was assessed by evaluating weight loss, variation in mechanical properties and change in complex viscosity. Structural and morphological changes of degraded PF and PF-PL samples were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Weight loss percentage in case of photo-degraded samples was found to be much higher compared to soil buried specimens. SEM micrographs showed a blistered surface and visible cracks on the surface of soil buried and photo-degraded samples, respectively. FTIR spectra of photo-degraded samples showed a new peak at 673 cm−1 indicating the furan ring opening during the degradation process. Significant variation in mechanical properties of PF and PF-PL specimens after soil-burial test also indicated biodegradable nature of the biopolymers. Approximately 45% and 63% of loss in tensile strength was obtained in PF and PF-PL soil buried specimens, respectively. Complex viscosity was lowest for PF and PF-PL samples after 21 months of degradation compared to undegraded specimens thus indirectly indicating the decrease in molecular weight after degradation. All the obtained data revealed the fragmentation of biopolymers, hence supporting the biodegradable nature of PFA-based biopolymer.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Not applicable.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
References
Geyer R, Jambeck JR, Law KL (2017) Sci Adv 3:25–29
Okada M, Okada Y, Tao A, Aoi K (1996) J Appl Polym Sci 62:2257–2265
Singh P, Kumar R (2019) J Polym Environ 27:901–906
Kumar R, Kumar R, Anandjiwala R (2012) Plast Rubber Compos 41:1–7
Spange S (2000) Prog Polym Sci 25:781–849
Guigo N, Mija A, Vincent L, Sbirrazzuoli N (2010) Eur Polym J 46:1016–1023
Toriz G, Arvidsson R, Westin M, Gatenholm P (2003) J Appl Polym Sci 88:337–345
Grund S, Kempe P, Baumann G, Seifert A, Spange S (2007) Angew Chem—Int Ed 46:628–632
Kumar R, Rashmi D (2018) World J Microbiol Biotechnol 34:1–9
Pischedda A, Tosin M, Degli-Innocenti F (2019) Polym Degrad Stab 170:109017
Kumar AP, Depan D, Singh Tomer N, Singh RP (2009) Prog Polym Sci 34:479–515
Obasi HC, Igwe IO, Madufor IC (2013) Adv Mater Sci Eng 2013:326538
Wang H, Wei D, Zheng A, Xiao H (2015) Polym Degrad Stab 116:14–22
Sharib M, Kumar R, Kumar KD (2018) J Therm Anal Calorim 132:1593–1600
Bergstrom JS, Hayman D (2016) Ann Biomed Eng 44:330–340
Hamad K, Kaseem M, Yang HW, Deri F, Ko YG (2015) Express Polym Lett 9:435–455
Bhushan B, Kumar R (2019) Plasma treated and untreated thermoplastic biopolymer/biocomposites in tissue engineering and biodegradable implants. In: Grumezescu A, Holban A-M (eds) Materials for biomedical engineering: hydrogels and polymer-based scaffolds. Elsevier, United States, pp 339–369
Irin SC, Begila DS (2014) Int J Chem Stud 2:46–54
Radu ER, Panaitescu DM, Nicolae CA, Gabori RA, Rădiţoiu V, Stoian S, Alexandrescu V, Fierăscu R, Chiulan I (2021) J Polym Environ 29:2310–2320
Kausch HH (2005) Macromol Symp 225:165–178
Kazemi NS, Mostafazadeh MM, Chaharmahali M (2010) J Polym Environ 18:720–726
Riyajan SA, Sukhlaaied W (2019) J Polym Environ 27:1918–1936
Lucas N, Bienaime C, Belloy C, Queneudec M, Silvestre F, Saucedo JE (2008) Chemosphere 73:429–442
Yao J, Wang H, Liu J, YuChan K, Zhang L, Xu N (2005) Carbon 43:1709–1715
Moazzen K, Zohuriaan-Mehr MJ, Jahanmardi R, Kabiri K (2018) J Appl Polym Sci 135:45921
Tondi G, Cefarin N, Sepperer T, D’Amico F, Berger RJF, Musso M, Birarda G, Reyer A, Schnabel T, Vaccari L (2019) Polymers 11:1–15
Tondi G, Link M, Oo CW, Petutschnigg A (2015) J Spectrosc 3:1–8
Kumar R (2012) Recent Patents Catal 1:35–42
Funding
Author Ms. Priyaragini Singh is grateful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India, for financial assistance in the form of Senior Research fellowship Grant (Sanction Letter No. 09/1144(0002)/2018-EMR-1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work cited in this paper.
Ethical Approval
Not applicable.
Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
Consent for Publication
Only subscription based.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, P., Kumar, K.D. & Kumar, R. Degradation of Polyfurfuryl Alcohol-Based Biopolymer by Soil-Burial and Photo-Degradation Methods. J Polym Environ 30, 1920–1931 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-021-02330-z
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-021-02330-z