Biodegradation of aged composition of polyethylene with synthetic polyester

Abstract

Streszczenie-Zbadano wp³yw wstêpnego starzenia w warunkach abiotycznych (foto-, termo-i fototermodegradacja) na przebieg powodowanej przez grzyby mikroskopowe Penicillium funiculosum biodegradacji folii wykonanej z mieszaniny 80 % PE-LD i 20 % poliestru "Bionolle ® ". W celach porównawczych badano te¿ folie wykonane z czystych sk³adników tej mieszaniny. Stopieñ ka¿dego z badanych rodzajów degradacji oceniano na podstawie pomiarów ubytku masy folii, ich w³aoeciwooeci mechanicznych oraz morfologii powierzchni. Analiza widm IR pos³u¿y³a do zinterpretowania spowodowanej degradacj¹ zmiany budowy chemicznej badanej mieszaniny polietylenu i poliestru. Ustalono, ¿e degradacja abiotyczna polimerów intensyfikuje ich biodegradacjê nastêpcz¹ oraz ¿e dodatek poliestru "Bionolle ® " uwra¿liwia PE-LD na degradacyjne procesy rozk³adu. S³owa kluczowe: polietylen, poliester, mieszanina, degradacja abiotyczna, biodegradacja, w³aoeciwooeci mechaniczne, budowa chemiczna, ubytek masy. BIODEGRADATION OF AGED COMPOSITION OF POLYETHYLENE WITH SYNTHETIC POLYESTER Summary-The effect of preliminary aging, in abiotic conditions (photo-, thermal or photo-thermal degradation), of the film made of 80 % of PE-LD and 20 % of polyester "Bionolle ® " on the course of biodegradation caused by Penicillium funiculosum (filamentous fungi) was investigated. The films made of single components of this mixture (Table 1) were also investigated to compare the results obtained. The degrees of each kind of degradation have been estimated on the basis of changes of film weight loss (Table 2 and 3), the mechanical properties (Table 4) and morphology of the surface (characterized using scanning electron microscopy, Fig. 1 and 2). Changes in chemical structure of polyethylene/polyester blend caused by degradation were interpreted on the basis of IR spectra analysis (Fig. 3-5). It was found that abiotic degradation of the polymers accelerated their subsequent biodegradation and that addition of "Bionolle ® " polyester made PE-LD more sensitive to degradation processes.

Biodeterioration of plasma pretreated LDPE sheets by Pleurotus ostreatus

“…Some authors have demonstrated weight loss as an important biodeterioration variable. As a case in point, Łabużek et al, (2006) reported ˂0.04% weight loss in PE sheets after a 16 day photo-thermal degradation process (UV 250–400 nm and 50° C) [ 47 ]. Sheik et al (2015) observed LDPE sheet weight loss (0.3 mg) after they were exposed to gamma rays greater than 200 KGy and incubaed with fungi during 90 days [ 21 ].…”

UV-Surface Treatment of Fungal Resistant Polyether Polyurethane Film-Induced Growth of Entomopathogenic Fungi

“…Untreated films showed a lower number of adhered cells when compared to the treated films, showing that cell adhesion was influenced by the treatments, which increased the biocompatibility [ 16 ]. The synergetic effect of the abiotic and biotic process in the biodegradation of synthetic polymers was also studied and reviewed recently [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”