Mathematical modelling and computational analysis of enzymatic degradation of xenobiotic polymers

We study the enzymatic degradation of xenobiotic polymers mathematically. As a mathematical model, we derive a linear second-order hyperbolic partial differential equation which governs the evolution of the weight distribution with respect to the molecular weight. Given an initial weight distribution and a final weight distribution, we formulate a problem to determine a degradation rate. We establish a necessary and sufficient condition for which the problem has a local solution. We also introduce a numerical technique based on our analysis, and present a numerical result that we obtained applying weight distributions before and after enzymatic degradation of polyvinyl alcohol.