Degradable Polymers

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Abstract
Deterioration and degradation of organic polymeric structures are the basic mechanisms ensuring recycling of the elements of the biosphere. All organic polymers are, in principle, degradable, but even nature combines inert and degradable components in the same material, as, for example, in wood. Wood consists of degradable polysaccharides such as hemicelluloses and cellulose, and also rather inert substances such as lignin and smaller amounts of somewhat hydrophobic terpinoic molecules and waxes. The total degradation of wood in its natural environment takes a rather long time, suggesting that the rapid biodegradation of wood to carbon dioxide and water is not environmentally optimal. Thus, if we concede that the natural balance, as mentioned for wood, should be our model, then our synthetic polymers should emulate wood in their pattern of degradation. The idea that synthetic polymers should biodegrade totally in periods of a few months or less does not reflect how the natural environment functions.