Enzymatic degradation of poly ($\epsilon$-caprolactone), poly(viny l acetate)and their blends bylipases

Sivalingam, G and Chattopadhyay, S and Madras, G (2003) Enzymatic degradation of poly ($\epsilon$-caprolactone), poly(viny l acetate)and their blends bylipases. In: Chemical Engineering Science, 58 (13). pp. 2911-2919.

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Abstract

Poly ($\epsilon$-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) and their blends were degraded in toluene by two lipases (Novozym 435 and Candida Rugosa) at 60°C. The degradation of PCL and side-chain hydrolysis of PVAc yielded specific products of molecular weight \sim500 and \sim700, respectively. FTIR analysis of the polymer before and after enzyme treatment and the specific products show that there is large reduction of ester linkages and generation of –OH, $–COO^{(-)}$, –COOH groups in the broken chains. The optimal temperature for the side-chain hydrolysis of PVAc was 60 and 65°C and the optimal temperature for the biodegradation of PCL was 55 and 60°C for Candida Rugosa and Novozym 435, respectively. Continuous distribution kinetics was proposed for determining the rate coefficients of the polymers and deactivation of the enzyme. Enzymatic degradation studies of PCL–PVAc blends showed that there is a drastic reduction in the degradation of PCL in the blends. This was modeled by the interaction between polymers.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Chemical Engineering Science
Publisher:	Elsevier Ltd
Additional Information:	The copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords:	Polymers; Kinetics; Enzyme; Population balances; Continuous distribution kinetics; Polymer blends
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2007
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:37
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/10873

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