Enhancement and Investigation of Biodegradability of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) and Poly(vinyl chloride) by Blending with Cellulose Derivatives

Abstract Presently, society needs a more eco-friendly alternative for non-biodegradable polymers, nonetheless, the synthetic polymers have established the market because of cost and easy to manufacture. To address the challenge of reducing the lifetime of degradation of these polymers the scope of blending natural biopolymers is effective. This paper focuses on confirming the effectiveness of biodegradation in the molecular level of polymer blends between synthetic polymers and biopolymers. The synthetic polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) were blended with varying compositions of biodegradable cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB). Using dimethylformamide (DMF) the films of PMMA/CAB, PVC/CAB blends were prepared by the solution casting method. Four different methods for studying biodegradability of these blends namely, soil burial test, enzymatic degradation, activated sludge degradation followed by microbial degradation was performed. The confirmation of degradation was done by NMR, FTIR and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) studies. Moreover, degradation analyses were determined by weight loss method. Sufficient biodegradability was shown with an increase in CAB content in the blend. This work provides an approach for bringing about the degradation of synthetic polymers without much compromise on their properties. Also the type of microorganisms that effectively degrades these polymer bends can be known.