Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
Characterization and in vitro degradation of poly(octadecanoic anhydride)
An-Jie Dong1, Jin-Wei Zhang, Kai Jiang
1Department of Polymer Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
Abstract:
Poly(octadecanoic anhydride) (POA) has been prepared by melt polycondensation of octadecanoic diacid. POA was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). The results of in vitro degradation and SEM micrographs show that the erosion process of POA is neither bulk nor perfect surface erosion but rather has elements of both in phosphate buffer at 37 degrees C. The moving erosion front is characteristic of surface erosion whereas the remaining porous shell stems from bulk erosion. While a significant special degradation property of POA is that POA presents a very slow degradation rate in acidic condition (pH 5.98), only 1.64% weight loss for 20 days, and it completely degrades after 18 days in basic buffer (pH 7.4). Comparing with poly(sebacic anhydride) (PSA), POA has the higher crystallization degree, and the slower hydrolytic rate.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Classification and Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Polymers
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters
Polyesters are commonly prepared from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol; the crude product is known as poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET. However, polyesters are synthesized industrially by transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at 150 °C. The two reactants and the polymer...
Microbial Bioremediation of Plastics
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET)
Similar to cross-metathesis, ADMET also involves the formation of metallacyclobutane intermediate by [2+2] cycloaddition of one of the double bonds of a terminal diene with...
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

