Degradable Polymers and Materials

Book excerpt: This book is an excellent guide to biobased and biodegradable polymeric materials. It summarizes current knowledge on polymer degradation mechanisms and provides insight into recent, state of the art syntheses of (bio)degradable polymers. The book captures the shift that is currently observed in polymer industries, which takes the industry from a strict petroleum-based business to an industry that starts to incorporate biobased raw materials and seeks actively to manufacture materials that are environmentally benign. The book describes various aspects of current polymer research with special emphasis on natural polymers, syntheses and modifications of polyesters and characterization technologies that allow to elucidate degradation mechanisms. The understanding of polymer degradation is not limited anymore to hydrolytic processes, this book captures new approaches to the degradation of plastic materials ranging from photodegradation to the regulation of genes of polymer-degrading microorganisms. A profound part of the book is dedicated to poly(lactic acid) a polymer that is now produced in large scale from renewable resources, the modification, copolymerization, application and engineering of this material is discussed in detail and a comprehensive review is provided.