Application of Biodegradable Polyesters

Biodegradable polymers have been developed for two main fields of application ecological and medical. The requirements for such applications are different in some respects and stricter in the case of medical applications. While some biodegradable polyesters can be successfully applied either in solving ecological problems or medical ones, some of them can be used for both applieations. Some examples of the previously discussed polyesters are given in Eigure 6.3 with reference to their possible applications. 

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Application of Biodegradable Polyester-Based Blends and Composites 331... 

During the last two decades the interest in biodegradable polyesters has increased immensely. There are at least two reasons for this. The first one is related to the steady increasing adverse environmental impacts of synthetic, petroleum-based polymers, and the second one to the unique opportunities for application of biodegradable polyesters in medicine, arising from their biocompatibility and biodegradability. 

Brandi, H., Gross, R. A., Lenz, R. W., and Fuller, R. C. 1988. Pseudomonas oleovorans as a source of poly(P-hydroxyalkanoates) for potential applications as biodegradable polyesters. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.,54,1977-1982. 

At the time of writing, the applications of biodegradable polymers are confined mostly to the field of agriculture, where they are used in products with limited lifetimes, such as mulch films and pellets for the controlled release of herbicides. The synthetic polyesters used in medical applications, principally polylactide and poly(lactide-co-glycolide), while claimed to be biodegradable, are degraded in the body mainly, if not entirely, by chemical hydrolysis. There is little evidence that the hydrolysis of these polyesters of a-hydroxyacids can be catalyzed by hydrolase or depolymerase enzymes. 

We can classify the different biodegradable and bio-based polymers into two major families agropolymers (categoiy a) and biodegradable polyesters (categories b and c). To illustrate the latter, the next section focuses on the description of biodegradable polyesters, from synthesis to application. 

After discussing the synthesis and the processing of biodegradable polyesters in the previous sections, herein, their applications will be reviewed. Biomedical applications and their use in packaging materials constitute the major application areas. However, the use of biodegradable polyesters is not limited to these research fields as will become clear in the upcoming section. 

Microbial Synthesis of Biodegradable Polyesters Processes, Products, Applications... 

Electrospun Scaffolds of Biodegradable Polyesters Manufacturing and Biomedical Application... 

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