Current Status of Methods Used in Degradation of Polymers: A Review

Degradation of different polymers now a day is the most crucial thing to carry out. It possesses threats to human health as well as to the environment. Different polymers like PVA, PVC, and PP with high density and low density are one of the most consumed by population and also their degradation is a bit difficult. For this many people have started working on effective methods of degradation of these polymers. This can be done by thermal degradation and pyrolysis which requires high temperature, bio degradation using starch, bacteria etc and photo degradation. Traditional gravimetric and respirometric techniques are the methods currently used in testing. They fit readily for degradable polymeric materials usually. Also they are well suited for biodegradable components with polymer blends. But the recent polymer generation is comparatively resistant to bio degradation of polymers hence they cannot be used here. The polymer matrices are readily present in the plasticizers boosting the strength of polymeric material hence in addition; there is the mechanism of degradation. The information on various methods discussed in this review is planned to illustrate a best fit of methods for those who are interested in testing the degradation of polymers under different environmental conditions and selection of appropriate technique for specific combination of mixture of polymer and catalysts which helps to degrade the polymeric material.