An automated test for measuring polymer biodegradabation

The biodegradability of polymers as by the Sturm test is labor-intensive, cumbersome and costly and also tends to cumulate errors. An automated system for the measurement of carbon dioxide would overcome many of these disavantages. We describe here a method in which CO2 was determinated by IR spectr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 41; pp. 645 - 651
Main Authors Calmon, Anne, Dusserre Bresson, L., Bellon Maurel, Véronique, Feuilloley, P., Silvestre, F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier 2000
Subjects
Environmental Sciences
CEMAGREF
INRA
IRMO
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Summary:The biodegradability of polymers as by the Sturm test is labor-intensive, cumbersome and costly and also tends to cumulate errors. An automated system for the measurement of carbon dioxide would overcome many of these disavantages. We describe here a method in which CO2 was determinated by IR spectroscopy. We compared the results with those from trapping CO2 in a solution of Ba(OH)2 followed by manual titration. The automated system was more reproducible, less costly and more compact. It could also be employed to measure the biodegradability of other substances such as oils and detergents. La biodégradabilité est réalisée en laboratoire par la méthode Sturm, coûteuse, exigeante en matériel et en personnel et sujette à erreurs. Un système automatique permet de surmonter ces inconvénients. Ce papier décrit une méthode où le CO2 est mesuré par spectroscopie infrarouge. Les résultats sont comparés à la méthode manuelle de titration au Ba(OH)2. Le sytème automatique s'est montré plus reproductible, moins coûteux et plus compact. Ce systèmes peut aussi mesurer la biodégradabilité d'autres substances (huiles, détergents, ...).
ISSN:0045-6535
1879-1298
DOI:10.1016/S0045-6535(99)00491-9