Polymeric materials biodegradation assessment

Van Der Zee M, Sitsma L, Tournois H, DeWit D (1994) Assessment of biodegradation of water insoluble polymeric materials in aerobic and anaerobic aquatic environments. Chemosphere. 28 1757-1771... 

This chapter reviews the general context of starch as a material. After a survey of the major sources of starch and their characteristic compositions in terms of amylase and amylopectin, the morphology of the granules and the techniques applied to disrupt them are critically examined. The use of starch for the production of polymeric materials covers the bulk of the chapter, including the major aspect of starch plasticization, the preparation and assessment of blends, the processing of thermoplastic starch (TPS), the problems associated with its degradation and the preparation of TPS composites and nanocomposites. The present and perspective applications of these biodegradable materials and the problems associated with their moisture sensitivity conclude this manuscript. 

At the beginning of the 1990s the first attempts were made to establish standard testing conditions to measure and evaluate the biodegradation of nonwater-soluble polymeric materials and the first standards, often modifications of existing standards to assess the biodegradability of low MW substances, were published by the American... 

Tests designed to assess the biodegradability of polymeric materials consist of the following general steps. 

The obvious direct measure of biodegradation of a polymer will be the loss of polymer from the system. This measure essentially assesses the early stage of biodegradation when a high polymer material is broken down into a low polymer, an oligomer or a non-polymeric product. 

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