Abstract The high cost and long duration of the existing standard tests, such as ASTM D5338 and ISO 14855, represents an important drawback in evaluating the biodegradability of polymers. This works presents a new accelerated method for this purpose, based on the use of a Bartha respirometer and biostimulation with yeast extract. The new method was applied to microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), low density polyethylene (LDPE), poly(3-hidroxybutyrate) (PHB), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH), polypropylene (PP) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The results obtained with these polymers were consistent with those of the standard methods in terms of differentiating biodegradable and non-biodegradable polymers and relative order of biodegradation extent. Besides, a significant reduction of test duration was achieved (from 45 to 110 days with ASTM D5338 or ISO 14855 to 28 days). These results corroborate the potential of the proposed method as a fast test for assessment of biodegradation of polymeric materials.

中文翻译：

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一种评估聚合物生物降解性的基于生物刺激的加速方法

摘要 现有标准测试（如 ASTM D5338 和 ISO 14855）的高成本和长持续时间是评估聚合物生物降解性的一个重要缺陷。这项工作为此目的提出了一种新的加速方法，基于使用 Bartha 呼吸计和酵母提取物的生物刺激。新方法应用于微晶纤维素（MCC）、低密度聚乙烯（LDPE）、聚（3-羟基丁酸酯）（PHB）、聚乳酸（PLA）、聚乙烯醇（PVOH）、聚丙烯（PP） ）和聚（对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯）（PET）。在区分可生物降解和不可生物降解聚合物以及生物降解程度的相对顺序方面，用这些聚合物获得的结果与标准方法的结果一致。除了，测试持续时间显着缩短（根据 ASTM D5338 或 ISO 14855 从 45 天减少到 110 天到 28 天）。这些结果证实了所提出的方法作为评估聚合物材料生物降解的快速测试的潜力。