Gisha Elizabeth, Luckachan; Dr. C K S Pillai(Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), May , 2006)
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Abstract:
Biodegradable polymers have opened an emerging area of great interest
because they are the ultimate solution for the disposal problems of synthetic
polymers used for short time applications in the environmental and biomedical
field. The biodegradable polymers available until recently have a number of
limitations in terms of strength and dimensional stability. Most of them have
processing problems and are also very expensive. Recent developments in
biodegradable polymers show that monomers and polymers obtained from
renewable resources are important owing to their inherent biodegradability,
biocompatibility and easy availability. The present study is, therefore, mostly
concemed with the utilization of renewable resources by effecting chemical
modification/copolymerization on existing synthetic polymers/natural polymers
for introducing better biodegradability and material properties.The thesis describes multiple approaches in the design of new
biodegradable polymers: (1) Chemical modification of an existing nonbiodegradable
polymer, polyethylene, by anchoring monosaccharides after
functionalization to introduce biodegradability. (2) Copolymerization of an
existing biodegradable polymer, polylactide, with suitable monomers and/or
polymers to tailor their properties to suit the emerging requirements such as
(2a) graft copolymerization of lactide onto chitosan to get controlled solvation
and biodegradability and (2b) copolymerization of polylactide with cycloaliphatic amide segments to improve upon the thermal properties and
processability.