Recently poly(n-alkylene n-alkylenedionate) (PAAD) comprising long-chain-aliphatic diol and dicarboxylic acid has attracted much attention as high-performance bio-based polyester. Additionally some PAADs are believed to be biodegraded easily. However, comparative studies of biodegradability have been limited to only a few types of typical PAADs. Therefore, we prepared thirty poly(butylene n-alkylenedioate) (PBAD)s having 2–14 methylene units in the dicarboxylic acid and evaluated the biodegradability of these PBADs by biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)-biodegradation testing. Additionally, BOD-biodegradation rates of PBADs (n = 2 and 10) were much lower than those other PBADs. PBAD (n = 11-14) did not show BOD-biodegradability. The biodegradation testing of PBADs indicates that PBAD comprising long-chain dicarboxylic acid is not biodegradable polymer while it has good physical properties. A trigger system that uses external stimuli to change the chemical properties of a polymer or directly degrade the polymer to low molecular weight compounds is suitable for controlling the biodegradability of such polyester. We adopted the reductive cleavage of disulfide bonds as a trigger to control the biodegradability of polyesters. We introduced disulfide bonds in polyester and demonstrated that the environmental biodegradability of these polyesters could be triggered by cleavage of the disulfide bonds in a reductive environment.

Evaluation of biodegradability and biodegradation control by reductive stimuli of polyesters

2019 Spring National Meeting

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