| Abstract: | Environmentally adaptable polymers are materials with well-defined life times made by tailoring the synthesis and creating a molecular architecture with precise functionality and morphology. Synthesis of such materials develops initiators/catalysts systems and enzymatic polymerisation while processing need to be adopted to the labile repeating units. The secondary structure of the environmentally adaptable polymers is susceptible to traditional processing introducing e.g. changes in the atomic positions of oxygen of poly(3-hydroxy-co-3-hydroxyvalerate). (Bio-) degradation of these materials is complex and difficult to predict. Modelling test-environments require an understanding of the many biological processes possible in nature. Many biodegradations require e.g. the co-operation of more than one microbial specium, which sometimes render standard biodegradation tests inadequate. The nonabsolute specificity of enzymes are probably responsible for the transformation of many of the novel molecules created in recent times, but it is wishful thinking to expect that every new compound has an enzyme able to catalyse its alteration. |
