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Biodegradable Polymers - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Advantages of Potatopak is an eco-friendly company which is a alternative to plastic plates/products. Also by recycling the starch water Potatopak reduces factory waste and prevents its disposal down drains or for use as pasture irrigation. Not only this during manufacture, Potatopak products produce no noxious fumes to the atmosphere, no toxic liquid waste and only a small amount of solid waste. After use, Potatopak products are 100% biodegradable and break down in a compost heap or worm farm within four weeks with no harmful chemicals leaching into the soil. Additionally Potatopak products made from waste, they alleviate waste by providing a viable alternative to petrochemical plastics and reducing levels of waste that reach landfill.
      - The major disadvantage of bioplastics is their low biostability. They are sensitive to degradation by biological agents. This disadvantage make bioplastics inappropriate for many application that need materials with high stability
- - - - Advantages: Starch is a natural biopolymer consisting predominantly of two polymer types of glucose namely amylose and amylopectin. The advantages of starch for plastic production include its renewability, good oxygen barrier in the dry state, abundance, low cost and biodegradability.
      - Disadvantages include although PLA is compostable, there are very few facilities where this can actually be done, most likely consumers will not compost corn starch plastics properly, and just put them in regular recycling. This could contaminate the recycling stream. Also since there is a lack of adequate infrastructure to compost PLA, most of it will probably still go into landfills.
- - - - One major disadvantage to PLA is its durability. The fact that it isn't durable limits it to not being used in the automotive industry, one that's very large and could benefit from PLA. A primary cause of low durability is hydrolysis under high humidity conditions.
      - PLA's advantages is that the raw material, lactic acid can be derived from renewable resources, which makes PLA very attractive for the packaging and considered as green packaging.
- - - - It has the advantages of high initial tensile strength, smooth passage through tissue, easy handling, excellent knotting ability, and secure knot tying. It is commonly used for subcutaneous sutures, intracutaneous closures, abdominal and thoracic surgeries.
      - The main drawback of PLGA is that the degradation products of PLGA result in the formation of acidic species, which can provoke problems for long-term stability when encapsulating bioactive molecules
- - - - Advantages of PHA include bio-origin (processing by microorganisms), biocompatibility, biodegradability, transformations of toxic materials by microorganisms during fermentation (halogenated derivatives, CO2), additional unique properties such as piezoelectricity, and excellent barrier properties.
      - PHA include some disadvantages including low strain-at-break, a narrow processing window, a slow crystallization rate, and a higher cost compared to petroleum-based synthetic polymers.
- - - - The advantage of polylactide based biopolymers over conventional metallic or non-biodegradable polymers is to ease of removal by the body system itself and retention of shape during time.
      - Disadvantage to PLA is its durability. The fact that it isn't durable limits it to not being used in the automotive industry, one that's very large and could benefit from PLA. A primary cause of low durability is hydrolysis under high humidity conditions.
- - - - Advantages of Biopol include that it is insoluble in water and will sink unlike the majority of ‘plastics’. Over time it will degrade harmlessly as it is non-toxic. It has a similar tensile strength to that of polypropylene. With a high melting point of 175 degrees centigrade, it can withstand most use, that requires resistance to hot liquids, such as beverages.
        Biopol can be produced through ‘renewable’ raw materials such as and corn starch. Starch is extracted from corn but the process produces carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas)
      - Biopol has many disadvantages such as it is more expensive to produce biopol than fossil fuel plastics. Biopol has a low resistance to acids and bases, including bleach. This restricts its use as ‘plastic’ packaging. Biopol does not resist impact as well as fossil fuel based plastics and cannot be used in situations such as containers, that could potentially be dropped or knocked. Additionally the fermentation process is longer, when compared to plastics processed from fossil fuels such as oil.