Assessing Aliphatic Polyester Biodegradation in Seawater: A Real-Field Study

초록

Given that discarded plastic waste ends up in the ocean, and accounts for 80% of marine debris, understanding the marine degradability of plastics becomes so crucial. In this study, we conducted an investigation into the marine biodegradation of different representative aliphatic polyesters off the coast of South Korea. Notably, the crystalline polyesters having high glass transition temperature exhibited minimal degradation after one year, while another biomass-furan-derived polyester showed a higher level of degradation compared to another polyester. Interestingly, we observed an increase in microbial species richness and the maximum value of weight loss rate of the various polyesters during the summer. These findings offer valuable insights into the biodegradation behavior of different aliphatic polyesters in seawater and impact of chemical structure, temperature, and microbial activity on their degradation behavior.