THE POLYMER MODEL OF COLLAGEN DEGRADATION

The mathematical description of polymer chain scission given by N. M. Emanuel' & D. C. Knorre (Chemical Kinetics (Homogeneous Reactions), Jo hn Wiley, New York, 1973) is shown to be inaccurate and an alternative formulation is presented. The model of collagen degradation proposed by T. E. Rudakova & G. E. Zaikov (Polym. Deg. Stab., 18 (1987) 271) wh ich is based upon the work of Emanuel' & Knorre is modified accordingl y. The revised model is applied to the results of experiments on the e ffect of hydrolysis on collagen sutures and is found to fit the data o nly during the early stages of degradation. Possible causes of the lac k of fit of the conceptual model are discussed.