Comonomer-unit compositions, physical properties and biodegradability of bacterial copolyhydroxyalkanoates

Macromol Biosci. 2004 Mar 15;4(3):186-98. doi: 10.1002/mabi.200300092.

Abstract

The comonomer-unit compositions and their distribution of as-produced bacterial copolyesters, including poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate), poly(3-hydroxy-butyrate-co-3-hydroxypropionate), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) are described in this paper. Each copolyester sample can be comonomer-unit compositionally fractionated into several fractions, indicating that the original copolymers are mixtures of copolymers with different comonomer-unit compositions. The effects of comonomer-unit compositional distribution on thermal properties, crystallization, biodegradability and solid-state phase behavior are investigated using comonomer compositionally fractionated copolymers.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bacteria / chemistry
  • Bacteria / metabolism*
  • Biodegradation, Environmental
  • Crystallization
  • Hydroxybutyrates / chemistry*
  • Hydroxybutyrates / isolation & purification
  • Hydroxybutyrates / metabolism*
  • Polyesters / chemistry*
  • Polyesters / isolation & purification
  • Polyesters / metabolism*
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • Hydroxybutyrates
  • Polyesters