Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : Poly(butylene adipate) (PBA) and poly(ethylene succinate) (PEgS) with a M̄n of 2000 were used as building blocks of poly(ester-urethane)s. Trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate (TMDI), TMDI/2-methyl-1,5-pentanediamine (MPDA)/TMDI and 4,4′-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) were used to build diurethane units into the polymer with a final M̄n of the order of 30000. Oxygen consumption was measured during incubation of a pure strain of gram-positive non-sporulating bacteria isolated from an industrial compost for household refuse, in the presence of powder and films. The diurethane junction units and the diurethane model compounds are not assimilated on the time-scale of the present work. The relative biodegradability of PB A, PEgS and the various poly(ester-urethane)s has been assigned to the mobility of the polyester chain segments. © WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, D-69451 Weinheim 1999.