Brief Analysis on the Degradation of Sugar-Based Copolyesters

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Nov 10;15(22):4372. doi: 10.3390/polym15224372.

Abstract

Isosorbide can be used as a third monomer in the synthesis of aliphatic polyesters, and its V-shaped bridging ring structure can effectively improve the rigidity of the copolyester molecular chain. In this work, a series of degradable polyester materials were prepared by modifying polybutylene succinate and using isosorbide as the third monomer. The degradation tests in this paper were implemented through the hydrolysis of copolyesters in distilled water, degradation in natural water and degradation tests in simulated natural environments. The results showed that PBS and its copolyesters can degrade under natural conditions, and the introduction of isosorbide can accelerate the degradation of copolyesters, which could effectively reduce pollutants in nature.

Keywords: biodegradable polymers; isosorbide; monomers.