Biodegradable Polymers,History Tells Polymer Science's Fortune

• 作者: Xian-Hong Wang
• 来源期刊: 高分子科学（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2022,（5）
• 所属期刊栏目: EDITORIAL
• 页码范围: 431-432
• 页数: 2页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Origin and Overview Biodegradable polymer,according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry(IUPAC),is defined as"polymer susceptible to degradation by biological activity,with the degradation accompanied by a lowering of its molar mass".More specifically,biodegradable polymer should ultimately degrade into CO2 and water.The importance of biodegradable polymer is aroused due to the increasing concern on the rapidly growing volume of polymer waste after utilization,which is hard to recycle and exists"endless"in the earth since its birth.As microorganism is ubiquitous on earth,biodegradable polymer is usually chosen above other degradation modes for environment-ally digestible polymers.Naturally,biodegradable polymers start from natural polymers like starch,cellulose,protein,etc.,utilization of which dates back to the history of human civilization.Due to the length limits,this Editorial will focus on the development of synthetic biodegradable polymers pioneered in the early 1980s and mainly in China.