Screening of different microorganisms for their biodegradation capacity regarding polyester-based thermoplastic polyurethanes
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abstract
and bio-based solutions in shoe manufacturing, including the use
of biodegradable materials. As a first step towards the proposal
of such solutions, in this work different microorganisms were
screened for their intrinsic capacity to degrade a base TPU. The
biodegradability was tested using the agar plate method against
different bacteria, fungi and a consortium of both. The most
promising results, corresponding to higher weight-loss
percentages of the TPU sample, were obtained using the
consortium of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aspergillus niger.
These best conditions were thereafter applied to TPU samples
compounded with biobased additives.
