Natural Degradation of Polymers
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 1068
Special Issue Editor
Interests: environment and sustainable development; waste treatment; polymers; environmental monitoring; ecology; ornithology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Synthetic polymers degrade very slowly in the natural conditions and the main question posed is always regarding how long the integrity of these materials can be maintained, especially when referring to polymeric materials used for building structures, transportation, or medicine. In addition, following the polymer degradation, the production of micro- and nano-plastics should also be considered. Natural degradation of polymers refers to the exposure of polymers to natural outdoor conditions where direct or indirect sunlight, heat, oxygen, moisture, mechanical, or other factors contribute to the degradation of material properties. By simulating natural weathering, all the parameters can be controlled by researchers; however, they cannot set the environmental conditions that change naturally as seasons pass. For instance, packaging is one of the main uses of single-use plastics, i.e., the ones that generate most of the plastic pollution due to the huge production and its short life use. Therefore, we ask—are biopolymers the solution? Certainly, we can say that Homo sapiens represents both the problem and the solution. Raising awareness about the environmental and human health impacts of plastics seems to be the only strategy required to reduce microplastic pollution. This is one more reason to increase knowledge of the mechanisms and dynamics associated with the degradation of polymeric materials in the environment, and to gain deeper understanding of the environmental effects created by the spread of plastic . Moreover, collecting data regarding health effects and naturally aged polymeric materials into databases that are available to various stakeholders could also be helpful.
This Special Issue responds to the ongoing discussion in the field of plastics regarding “emerging pollutants” and, particularly, the consequence of their degradation in the environment. We welcome interdisciplinary contributions regarding experimental procedures, theoretical suggestions, the circulation and effect of degradation products on the ecosystem, and data collection systems. We thank all the contributors for submitting their work to this upcoming Special Issue of Plastics
Dr. Loris Pietrelli
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Degradation mechanisms
- plastic degradation
- biobased and biodegradable polymers
- marine and freshwaters ecosystems
- soil ecosystems
- Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
- environmental impact
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