Abstract

Influence of �?�?�?¯�?�?�?�?�?�?§-dose rate on biodegradation of �?�?�?¯�?�?�?�?�?�?§-sterilized biomedical polyolefins

Author(s): Sameh A.S.Alariqi, R.P.Singh

In our previous study, we have investigated the biodegradation of -sterilized polyolefins in composting andmicrobial culture environments at different doses. It was found that the biodegradation increases with the increasing dose of -sterilization and time of incubation in compost. It was concluded that the pretreatment of -sterilization can accelerate the biodegradation of neat polymer matrix in biotic conditions significantly. The aimof the present study is to study the effect of -dose rate on the biodegradation of -sterilized polyolefins. Films of isotactic polypropylene, high density polyethylene and ethylene-propylene (EP) copolymer were sterilized under - radiation with doses of 10 and 25 kGy. Two different 60Co sourceswere used with dose rate 600 and 780 Gy h-1. Neat and sterilized samples were incubated in compost and fungal culture environments. The changes in functional groups, surface morphology and intrinsic viscosity in polymer chains were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM and viscometric measurements, respectively. It was observed that both ã-degradation and biodegradation processes depend on the dose rate of ã-source. It was found that the biodegradation of -sterilized polyolefins in composting and microbial culture environments increases with decreasing the -dose rate.