• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1270-1280
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• 2001

In this research of biodegradable polymers, it is essential to investigate the relation between biodegradability and molecular structure such as chemical constitution, hydrophilicity, molecular weight, crystallinity, chain orientation, and so on. It is also expected that hydrophilicity of polymer can affect biodegradability because biodegradation occurs with the help of enzymes and microorganisms. This study is to investigate the effect of hydrophilicity on biodegradability of polyesters. Hydrophilicity was varied by adding 5~30 mol% of amide groups, since amide groups are hydrophilic and used for improving thermal and mechanical properties. Surface energies and nitrogen contents by ESCA were measured to determine their hydrophilicity. The biodegradation was examined in activated sludge, enzyme and natural soil by $CO_2$evolution, TOC, weight loss, and observation through microscopy. The results showed that hydrophilicity of polyesteramide films increased with the addition of amide, PBAD series of shorter methylene units showed maximum hydrophilicity at 15~20 mol% of amide contents, but PBSE exhibited maximum values at 5~15 mol% of amide contents. The biodegradability increased as the hydrophilicty on surface increased. The biodegradation rate of PBAD series was higher than that of PBSE series. Therefore, it can be concluded that the addition of appropriate contents of hydrophile enhanced the biodegradability of aliphatic polyesters as well as their physical properties. Also, the experimental results revealed the relation between hydrophilicity and biodegradability of polyesteramides.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.643-649
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• 2017

Biodegradable enzymes such as lipase and proteinase can hydrolyze not only fatty acid esters and triglycerides, but also aliphatic polyesters. We measured the biodegradability that biodegradable enzymes have an important role in the degradation of natural aliphatic poly material such as PLA, corn starch, and polyethylene glycol in the natural environment. However, we investigated on the biodegradability of PLA, PLA and Polyethylene acrylate blended, and PLAcoPolyethylene polymerized with PLA graft copolymer Polyethylene glycol acrylate. When prepared biodegradable polymers. the Mechanical properties of them were measured on Biodegradability, thermal properties, real time in-situ electrical monitoring of polymers resin. Therefore BOD and biodegradation of PLAcoPolyethylene was graft copolymerized with PLA and polyethylene acrylate were measured at a lower rate than the other samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.338-347
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• 2021

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a family of microbial polyesters that are used as biodegradable plastics in replacement of conventional plastics for various applications. However, the high production cost is the barrier for PHA market expansion. This study aimed to utilize food waste as low-cost feedstock to produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) by Haloferax mediterranei. The effects of acetate (Ac), propionate (Pr), butyrate (Bu), and the short-chain carboxylates derived from food waste were examined on the microbial growth and PHBV production. Results showed that a mixture of carboxylates provided a 55% higher PHBV yield than glucose. The food-waste-derived nutrients achieved the yields of 0.41 to 0.54 g PHBV/g Ac from initial loadings of 450 mg/l to 1,800 mg/l Ac of total carboxylates. And the consumption of individual carboxylate varied between different compositions of the carbon source. The present study demonstrates the potential of using food waste as feedstock to produce PHBV by Haloferax mediterranei, which can provide economic benefits to the current PHA industry. Meanwhile, it will also help promote organic waste reduction in landfills and waste management in general.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.557-564
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• 2005

Thermoplastic starch (TPS) was manufactured and blended with poly(butylene adipate-co-succinate) (PBAS), which is one of the most popular biodegradable aliphatic polyesters. The effects of the TPS contents on the mechanical properties, thermal characteristics, and biodegradability of PBAS/TPS blends were investigated. The foaming characteristics of those were also studied. With small amount of TPS, mechanical properties of the blends were largely deteriorated and the variations of them decreased with more addition of TPS. In addition, TPS decreased crystallinity and thermal decomposition temperature of PBAS. The PBAS/TPS foam having maximum blowing ratio was obtained with 20 Phr of TPS, and their blowing ratio decreased with the further increase of TPS.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.977-982
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• 2013

Cellulose mixed esters (CME), substituted by various fatty acyl chains, are renewable bio-based polyesters. It has lots of potential due to the biodegradable property. In this study, Alpha cellulose was activated for 2h at $40^{\circ}C$ in deionized water prior to synthesis. Homogeneous esterification of CME was accomplished with water-activated alpha cellulose, various saturated fatty acids and acetic anhydride in lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide (LiCl/DMAc) medium. CME was obtained after 5 hr at $120^{\circ}C$. The filtrated products were characterized using TGA, FT-IR, 1H-NMR and FE-SEM, and the influence of water activation on the total degree of substitution was investigated.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2007

Medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (MCL-PHAs), which have constituents with a typical chain length of $C_{6}-C_{14}$, are polyesters that are synthesized and accumulated in a wide variety of Gram-negative bacteria, mainly pseudomonads. These biopolyesters are promising materials for various applications because they have useful mechanical properties and are biodegradable and biocompatible. The versatile metabolic capacity of some Pseudomonas spp. enables them to synthesize MCL-PHAs that contain various functional substituents; these MCL-PHAs are of great interest because these functional groups can improve the physical properties of the polymers, allowing the creation of tailor-made products. Moreover, some functional substituents can be modified by chemical reactions to obtain more useful groups that can extend the potential applications of MCL-PHAs as environmentally friendly polymers and functional biomaterials for use in biomedical fields. Although MCL-PHAs are water-insoluble, hydrophobic polymers, they can be degraded by microorganisms that produce extracellular MCL-PHA depolymerase. MCL-PHA-degraders are relatively uncommon in natural environments and, to date, only a limited number of MCL-PHA depolymerases have been investigated at the molecular level. All known MCL-PHA depolymerases share a highly significant similarity in amino acid sequences, as well as several enzymatic characteristics. This paper reviews recent advances in our knowledge of MCL-PHAs, with particular emphasis on the findings by our research group.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.243-249
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• 2013

Fibers of microbial polyesters, poly(3-hydroxy butyrate) (PHB) and poly(3-hydroxy butyrate-co-3-hydroxy valerate) (HB-co-HV) were prepared by electrospinning method. The obtained fibers were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and oil absorption. The formation of fibers was strongly dependent on a concentration of solution. At a low concentration, the fibers contained beads which is from aggregation of polymer due to short evaporation time. The fine fibers with $2-5{\mu}m$ diameter were obtained at 20 wt% concentration. The contact angle measurement showed that the fiber had higher water contact angle than the film due to the lotus-like effect. Oil absorbency showed that the fiber had higher than the film. Specially, the HB-co-HV fiber which was spinned from 20 wt% absorbed 65% oil which is much higher than that of a normal polypropylene-based oil paper.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.206-215
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• 2005

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are homo or hetero polyesters of (R)-hydroxyalkanoates accumulated in various microorganisms under growth-limiting condition in the presence of excess carbon source. They have been suggested as biodegradable substitutes for chemically synthesized polymers. Recombinant Escherichia coli is one of the promising host strains for the economical production of PHAs, and has been extensively investigated for the process development. The heterologous PHA biosynthetic pathways have been established through the metabolic engineering and inherent metabolic pathways of E. coli have been redirected to supply PHA precursors. Fermentation strategies for cultivating these recombinant E. coli strains have also been developed for the efficient production of PHAs. Nowadays, short-chain-length (SCL) PHAs are being re-invited due to its improved mechanical properties and possible applications in the biomedical area. In this article, recent advances in the development of metabolically engineered E. coli strains for the enhanced production of SCL-PHAs are reviewed. Also, medical applications of SCL-PHAs are discussed.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2004

The sol to gel transition of aqueous solution of block copolymers consisting of methoxy poly (ethylene glycol) (MPEG) and biodegradable polyesters such as $\varepsilon$-caprolactone and L-lactide was investigated as a function of temperature. MPEG-PCL was prepared by ring opening polymerization of $\varepsilon$-caprolactone in the presence of HClㆍEt$_2$O as monomer activator at room temperature. Also, MPEG-PLLA was prepared by ring opening polymerization of L-lactide in the presence of stannous octoate at 115$^{\circ}C$. The properties of block copolymers were investigated by $^1$H-NMR, IR, and GPC as well as the observation of thermo sensitive phase transition in aqueous solution. As the hydrophobic block length increased, the sol to gel transition temperature increased and curve of that steepen to lower concentration. To confirm the gel formation at body temperature, we observed the formation of gel in the mice body after injection of 20 wt% aqueous solution of each block copolymer. After surging, we investigated the gelation in mice. The results obtained in this study confirmed the feasibility as biomaterials of injectable implantation for controlled release of drug and protein delivery.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.104-111
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• 2013

Poymer blends of two degradable aliphatic polyesters, relatively expensive material polylactic acid (PLA) and relatively inexpensive material poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), were used in this study. Three different kinds of modifiers were used with various amounts. Diisocyanate type methylenediphenyl 4,4'-diisocyanate (MDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) were used as modifiers and epoxy type coupling agents also used. The melt flow index (MFI) and dynamic viscoelasticity of various compositions of PLA/PBAT blends were studied. The mechanical property and morphology with respect to the fracture surface of PLA/PBAT blends were also investigated using tensile test and field emission scanning electronic microscopy, respectively. These tests were also used to verify the compatibility of PLA/PBAT and the effect of mechanical properties due to the use of modifiers. Tensile properties of PLA/PBAT blends modified with HDI were improved remarkably.