Biodegradable polymers background

Note Background information is given in Section 7. In Table 13.4, a set of impact categories is listed that are considered to be particularly relevant for biodegradable polymers. 

Advances made over the past few decades have improved our understanding of the biodegradation of fibers, films, and fabrics. Experience has shown which types of polymers are susceptible to biodegradation, and which types are not susceptible. Applying this solid background of information, new... 

Gas evolution tests are popular test methods because they are relatively simple to perform and sensitive. A direct measure for mineralisation is determined, and water-soluble or insoluble polymers can be tested as films, powders or objects. Furthermore, the test conditions and inoculum can be adjusted to fit the application or environment in which biodegradation should take place. Aquatic synthetic media are usually used, but also natural sea water [92,93] or soil samples [85, 87, 88,94] can be applied as biodegradation environments. A prerequisite for these media is that the background C02-evolution is limited, which excludes the application of real composting conditions. Biodegradation under composting conditions is therefore measured using an inoculum derived from matured compost with low respiration activity [77, 78, 95, 96]. 

On this background, the general aim of this work is to study the addition of two different nanoparticles on mechanical properties and biodegradation trends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(s-caprolactone) (PCL), playing particular attention on the influence of polymer filler affinity. 

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