Characterization on biodegradation of enzymatically synthesized polylactic acid by using alkaline protease and lipase

Biodegradation is the degradation process of organic substances via catabolic reactions that usually takes place in the presence of microorganisms and enzymes. In the present study, the enzymatic degradation of PLA was investigated by protease DSM and candida rugosa lipase enzymes. When the molecular weight loss in the degradation processes using protease DSM and candida rugosa lipase was examined, there was a 23 % reduction after 90 days for protease DSM, and 28 % reduction after 50 days for candida rugosa lipase. In addition, FT-IR, TGA, XRD and SEM analyses demonstrated significant changes in the characteristic, morphological and thermal structures of PLA during the enzymatic degradation processes.