Biodegradation of water‐soluble and water‐dispersible polymers for agricultural, consumer, and industrial applications—Challenges and opportunities for sustainable materials solutions

Abstract

The development of more sustainable material solutions is one of the key challenges today. New materials are subject to an overall risk assessment of which their impact on the environment is an important aspect. The biodegradability of a material may support a positive risk assessment. Water‐soluble and water‐dispersible polymers are widely used in daily life in a very broad range of applications. In anticipation of a further tightening of regulatory requirements and as a consequence of the introduction of sustainability targets in industry, in the next decade or so, industry targets to replace the currently used and predominantly non‐biodegradable high value water‐soluble and water‐dispersible polymers by biodegradable alternatives, wherever sustainably possible. This review provides an overview of the currently used water‐soluble and water‐dispersible polymers in detergent formulations for home care, in water treatment and in crop protection. These polymers have been engineered to near perfect performance at minimum costs. We address the challenges faced when introducing biodegradable alternatives in existing product value chains, and we highlight opportunities to further improve and fine‐tune the biodegradation of these materials. This overview is intended to contribute to the development of novel biodegradable water‐soluble and water‐dispersible polymers, both at academia and industry.

Environmental Biodegradation of Water-Soluble Polymers: Key Considerations and Ways Forward

“…In this context, replacing nonbiodegradable with biodegradable WSPs offers a unique benefit: biodegradable WSPs undergo breakdown to defined metabolic end products. ,, In this Commentary, we highlight key concepts on the biodegradation of WSPs in natural and engineered environments and discuss experimental approaches to test WSP biodegradation as well as challenges associated with these approaches. The environmental fate of nonbiodegradable WSPs is beyond the scope of this commentary …”

“…Biodegradation tests of WSPs need to be both scientifically rigorous and highly practical. We acknowledge that biodegradability is but one desired property of WSPs that ought not to interfere with other warranted properties of the WSP during use and production (e.g., functionality, stability, nontoxicity, and sustainable feedstock sourcing) . An interdisciplinary approach with expertise from polymer chemistry, environmental chemistry, microbiology, and environmental engineering, among other fields, is therefore needed for the development of biodegradable WSPs.…”

“…■ WATER-SOLUBLE POLYMERS (WSPs): USE AREAS AND ENTRY PATHWAYS TO THE ENVIRONMENT WSPs are chemically diverse, ranging from linear uncharged homopolymers (e.g., poly(ethylene oxide)s) to branched and charged copolymers (e.g., polyacrylates, modified polysaccharides, and polyamino acids). 1 Because of their chemical diversity, WSPs cover a wide range of properties and functionalities (e.g., thickening, stabilization, and emulsification) that are critical to their use in numerous applications. The use of WSPs in some applications results in the release of WSPs into engineered and natural environments.…”

“…The environmental fate of nonbiodegradable WSPs is beyond the scope of this commentary. 1 ■ WSP BIODEGRADATION AND KEY INFLUENCING FACTORS WSP biodegradation is the process in which all components of a WSP are completely metabolically utilized by organisms in the receiving environment (Figure 1). For carbon-based WSPs, biodegradation describes the conversion of polymer carbon to the metabolic end products CO 2 and biomass under aerobic conditions (and potentially also CH 4 under anaerobic conditions).…”

Mechanistic investigation of cyclic ketene acetal radical ring-opening homo- and co-polymerization and preparation of PEO graft copolymers with tunable composition

“…In addition, incrustation inhibition and dispersion capacity make N VP-based polymers indispensable additives in high-performance home-care formulations. 20 While the amide side chains are able to facilitate the biodegradation process to a certain degree, the C–C backbones of the N VP-based polymers are hardly degradable. The environmental persistence of these materials creates a need for the application of green chemistry principles and the sustainable development of such polymers.…”