Materials 2009, 2(2), 307-344; doi:10.3390/ma2020307
Review

Biodegradable Polymers

Isabelle Vroman* email and Lan Tighzertemail
Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Emballage et Conditionnement (ESIEC), Esplanade Roland Garros - Pôle Henri Farman, BP 1029, 51686 Reims Cedex 2, France
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 25 February 2009; in revised form: 25 March 2009 / Accepted: 30 March 2009 / Published: 1 April 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradability of Materials)
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Abstract: Biodegradable materials are used in packaging, agriculture, medicine and other areas. In recent years there has been an increase in interest in biodegradable polymers. Two classes of biodegradable polymers can be distinguished: synthetic or natural polymers. There are polymers produced from feedstocks derived either from petroleum resources (non renewable resources) or from biological resources (renewable resources). In general natural polymers offer fewer advantages than synthetic polymers. The following review presents an overview of the different biodegradable polymers that are currently being used and their properties, as well as new developments in their synthesis and applications.
Keywords: Biodegradable polymers; polyesters; polyamides; polyurethanes; biopolymers; biodegradable polymer blends

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Vroman, I.; Tighzert, L. Biodegradable Polymers. Materials 2009, 2, 307-344.

AMA Style

Vroman I, Tighzert L. Biodegradable Polymers. Materials. 2009; 2(2):307-344.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vroman, Isabelle; Tighzert, Lan. 2009. "Biodegradable Polymers." Materials 2, no. 2: 307-344.

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