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Biodegradation Behaviors of Poly(p-dioxanone) in Different Environment Media

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Abstract

This work was aimed at researching the aerobic biodegradation of poly(p-dioxanone) (PPDO), a novel kind of degradable polymer material, by simulating real-life conditions in a laboratory-scale test, specified by the standard methods based on two biodegradation environments, composting and aqueous media. To measure and describe the biodegradability of PPDO, not only had carbon dioxide produced by respiratory metabolism of microorganism been measured, which determines the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of chemical compounds, but also the detailed results of biodegradation were further characterized by monitoring physical, chemical and thermal properties changes of test materials at different incubation times in the two media, confirmed by using the appropriate analytical techniques. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the surface morphology, and the thermal performance of PPDO was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry. The changes of molecular weight were detected by intrinsic viscosity ([η]) and gel permeation chromatography, and the variations of the molecular structure were monitored by the nuclear magnetic resonance and FT-IR. The results show that PPDO has outstanding character of biodegradation and may be more adapted for biodegrading in liquid medium than in composting.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China (IRT 1026), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51121001) and High-Tech Research & Development Program (2012AA062904). And thanks are addressed to Analytical & Testing Center of Sichuan University for NMR testing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Degradable and Flame-Retardant Polymeric Materials, College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory of Eco-Friendly Polymeric Materials (Sichuan), Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Chao Jin, Bingqing Liang, Jingxin Li & Fang Li

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  1. Chao Jin
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  2. Bingqing Liang
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  3. Jingxin Li
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  4. Fang Li
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Correspondence to Fang Li.

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Jin, C., Liang, B., Li, J. et al. Biodegradation Behaviors of Poly(p-dioxanone) in Different Environment Media. J Polym Environ 21, 1088–1099 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-013-0613-z

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