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Improving the marine biodegradability of poly(alkylene succinate)-based copolymers
Summary
Researchers synthesized novel marine-biodegradable copolymers based on poly(ethylene succinate) and poly(butylene succinate) by incorporating different dicarboxylic acid units. They found that even small amounts of longer-chain acid units enabled the polymers to biodegrade in seawater while maintaining tunable mechanical and thermal properties. The findings offer a design strategy for creating plastics that can replace conventional polymers while breaking down naturally in marine environments.
Abstract We report the syntheses of novel marine biodegradable poly(ethylene succinate) (PES)- and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)-based copolymers containing different dicarboxylic acid (DCA) units with various carbon numbers and different feed ratios. Biochemical oxygen demand tests demonstrated that some of the obtained PES- and PBS-based copolymers were biodegradable in seawater. Specifically, polymers with longer-chain DCA units, even at low contents, exhibited marine biodegradability. The thermomechanical properties of the copolymers, such as their thermal stabilities, melting points, glass transition temperatures, tensile moduli, strains at break, and stresses at break, also varied with the DCA contents. These results indicated that the thermomechanical properties and the marine biodegradabilities of the PES- and PBS-based copolymers were regulated by controlling their structures and DCA contents. The polymers obtained in this study may replace general-purpose polymers. Our approach may also be applicable to other polymeric materials. Furthermore, our findings pave the way for the rational design and preparation of polymeric materials that are biodegradable in environments other than oceans and have good thermomechanical properties.
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