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Morphological Changes in Poly(Caprolactone)/Poly(Vinyl Chloride) Blends Caused by Biodegradation

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Abstract

The biodegradation of blends of poly(caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) has been studied. Blends of composition PCL/PVC 1:1 and 1:2 w/w were tested. The 1:1 blend contained crystals in the as-cast state and became more crystalline on exposure to different bio-active agents. The 1:2 blend was amorphous in the as-cast state but developed a significant crystal component after 4 months exposure to the bio-agents. Three bio-active agents were used and all were found to produce qualitatively similar behaviour but their activity was somewhat different. For both the 1:1 blend and the 1:2 blend the ranking of the three bio-active agents tested, in increasing order, was Curvularia sp.; Trogia buccinalis; Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

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Acknowledgments

SMM-F thanks FAPESP, Brazil, for a post-doctoral scholarship (03/02256-0) that enabled her to make an extended visit to Newcastle to facilitate collaboration with the UK authors. The authors thank Instituto Botânico (São Paulo, Brazil) for supplying the fungi Trogia buccinalis and Phanerochaete chrysosporium from its Culture Collection (CCB) and Dr José A M Agnelli (DEMA-UFSCar, S.Carlos SP, Brazil) for supplying PCL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University State “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil

    Sandra M. Martins-Franchetti

  2. School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    T. A. Egerton & J. R. White

Authors
  1. Sandra M. Martins-Franchetti
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  2. T. A. Egerton
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  3. J. R. White
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Correspondence to Sandra M. Martins-Franchetti.

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Martins-Franchetti, S.M., Egerton, T.A. & White, J.R. Morphological Changes in Poly(Caprolactone)/Poly(Vinyl Chloride) Blends Caused by Biodegradation. J Polym Environ 18, 79–83 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-009-0158-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-009-0158-3

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