| Issue |
E3S Web Conf.
Volume 10, 2016
1st International Conference on the Sustainable Energy and Environment Development (SEED 2016)
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 00048 | |
| Number of page(s) | 8 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20161000048 | |
| Published online | 17 October 2016 | |
Environmental degradability of polycaprolactone under natural conditions
Gdynia Maritime University, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Commodity Science, Morska 81-87 str., Gdynia, Poland
a Corresponding author: k.krasowska@wpit.am.gdynia.pl
The aim of this work was an estimation of susceptibility of biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) to environmental degradation in different natural environments. The commercial poly(ε-caprolactone) film, the trade name “CAPA 680”, was degraded in the compost, pond, open and harbour area of the Baltic Sea. Characteristic parameters of all natural environments were monitored during the incubation of polymer samples and their influence on degradation of PCL was discussed. Susceptibility of PCL to degradation in natural environments was evaluated based on changes of weight, crystallinity and polymer surface morphology. The rate of environmental degradation of PCL depended on the incubation place, environmental conditions and decreased in order: compost>harbour area of the Baltic Sea>open area of the Baltic Sea>pond.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2016
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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