Properties of potentially biodegradable copolyesters of (succinic acid-1,4-butanediol)/(dimethyl terephthalate-1,4-butanediol)

Despite progress in the development of biodegradable polyesters, Little att ention has been given to aliphatic/aromatic copolyesters. Therefore, a seri es of such copolyesters has been synthesized by polycondensation of succini c acid (SA), dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and 1,4-butanediol (BD), and thei r material characteristics and biodegradability have been examined. The che mical composition of the aliphatic/aromatic copolyesters strongly influence s the material characteristics and biodegradability. For the copolyesters w ith a DMT-BD mole fraction of less than 0.2, an optimum between physical pr operties and biodegradability seems attainable. (C) 1999 Society of Chemica l Industry.