Study on the enzymatic degradation of PBS and its alcohol acid modified copolymer

Enzymatic hydrolytic degradation of polybutylene succinate (PBS), poly(polybutylenesuccinate-co-1,4-cyclohexane dimethanol) (PBS/CHDM) and poly(polybutylene succinate-co-diglycolic acid) (PBS/DGA) in mixed solvent of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and toluene was examined. Lipase was used as catalyst to degrade polymers with molecular weight of more than 100,000, and the molecular weight of products ranged from hundreds to thousands. Thermal decomposition temperatures of all products were below 250°C. The degradation products of both PBS/CHDM and PBS/DGA showed two melting points at about 85 and 99°C. Mass spectrometry (MS) was employed to obtain the molecular weight of oligomers extracted from the products, which proved to be low-polyesters with the molecular weight of less 1,000. The butanediol (BDO) monomer was found in PBS/CHDM degradation product for the first time.