Studies on biodegradability of copolymers of lactic acid, terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol

The copolymers were synthesized by the condensation of lactic acid, terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. Synthesized copolymers were characterized for various properties such as acid value, hydroxyl value and number average molecular weight, etc. The copolymers were analyzed by FTIR. Copolymers were biodegraded by different fungal species such as Aspergillus sp., Mucor sp., Alternaria sp. and Rhizopus sp., etc. The extent of biodegradation was examined by weight loss and scanning electron microscopy. Biodegradation of copolymer with greater amount of lactic acid was faster than the biodegradation of copolymer with lesser amount of lactic acid.