Modeling and simulation of biodegradation of xenobiotic polymers based on experimental results

Abstract

Biodegradation of polyethylene glycol is studied mathematically. A mathematical model for depolymerization process of exogenous type is described. When a degradation rate is a product of a time factor and a molecular factor, a time dependent model can be transformed into a time independent model, and techniques developed in previous studies can be applied to the time independent model to determine the molecular factor. The time factor can be determined assuming the exponential growth of the microbial population. Those techniques are described, and numerical results are presented. A comparison between a numerical result and an experimental result shows that the mathematical method is appropriate for practical applications.