EMERGING TRENDS IN BIO DEGREDABLE POLYMER TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers are materials which decompose when environmental microorganisms including bacteria and fungi break them down into water and carbon dioxide. The process of developing degradation testing methods has become important because researchers need to understand how different polymers break down into their chemical components. Researchers currently use multiple analytical methods which advanced through product development to study biopolymer compositions that include polyhydroxyalkanoates and poly (lactic acid) via bioanalytical techniques. The initial section of this review presents biopolymer definitions and their examples before explaining analytical techniques used to study biopolymers through physical methods (SEM, TEM, weighing analytical balance, etc.), chromatographic methods (GC, THM-GC, SEC/GPC), spectro scopic methods (NMR, FTIR, XRD, XRF), respirometric methods, thermal methods (DSC, DTA, TGA), and meta-analysis. The researchers dedicated special attention to chromatographic methods because they represent the standard procedure used for polymer testing. The review purpose centers on presenting current biopolymer testing techniques and instrument methods to analyze different biopolymer forms.