Biodegradation of gelatin–g‐poly(ethyl acrylate) copolymers

摘要

AbstractGelatin‐g‐poly(ethyl acrylate) copolymers were prepared in an aqueous medium, using K2S2O8initiator. The composition of the graft copolymers was dependent upon temperature and duration of the reaction. The number of grafting sites was small and molecular weight of the grafted poly(ethyl acrylate) branches was high. Three copolymer samples with grafting efficiencies of 33.3, 61.0, and 84.0, were tested for their microbial susceptibility in a synthetic medium employing a mixed inoculum ofBacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, andSerratia marcescensand the percent weight losses were 12, 10.1, and 6.0, respectively, after 6 weeks of incubation. The extent of degradation seems to decrease with increasing grafting efficiency. There was initial rapid weight loss accompanied by the exponential increase in bacterial population and pH of the culture medium during the first week. The nitrogen analysis also showed the utilization of the polymer. A parallel set of experiments, carried out by employing the samples as the only source of both carbon and nitrogen, showed a marginal but definite increase in the utilization of the poly