Biodegradation of poly (vinyl alcohol) with high isotacticity

Abstract

A bacterium having biodegrading activity with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was isolated from an activated sludge sample of a textile dyeing factory which deals with PVA. The bacterium was identified as a strain of Pseudomonas sp. and designated strain A-41. The results of the degradation of commercial PVA having atacticity altered triad-isotacticity from 21% to 13%. This suggests that the isotactic sequences in PVA are susceptible to biodegradation preferentially. PVA with high isotacticity was found to be easily degraded in comparison with commercial PVA. © 1994, The Society of Polymer Science, Japan. All rights reserved.