Istituto di Chimica e Tecnologia dei Polimeri, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via P. Gaifami 18, 95126 Catania, Italy.
Istituto di Chimica e Tecnologia dei Polimeri, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via P. Gaifami 18, 95126 Catania, Italy.
Anal Chim Acta. 2014 Jan 15;808:18-43. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2013.11.001. Epub 2013 Nov 15.
In the last decades, the solid-waste management related to the extensively growing production of plastic materials, in concert with their durability, have stimulated increasing interest in biodegradable polymers. At present, a variety of biodegradable polymers has already been introduced onto the market and can now be competitive with non biodegradable thermoplastics in different fields (packaging, biomedical, textile, etc.). However, a significant economical effort is still directed in tailoring structural properties in order to further broaden the range of applications without impairing biodegradation. Improving the performance of biodegradable materials requires a good characterization of both physico-chemical and mechanical parameters. Polymer analysis can involve many different features including detailed characterization of chemical structures and compositions as well as average molecular mass determination. It is of outstanding importance in troubleshooting of a polymer manufacturing process and for quality control, especially in biomedical applications. This review describes recent trends in the structural characterization of biodegradable materials by modern mass spectrometry (MS). It provides an overview of the analytical tools used to evaluate their degradation. Several successful applications of MALDI-TOF MS (matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight) and ESI MS (electrospray mass spectrometry) for the determination of the structural architecture of biodegradable macromolecules, including their topology, composition, chemical structure of the end groups have been reported. However, MS methodologies have been recently applied to evaluate the biodegradation of polymeric materials. ESI MS represents the most useful technique for characterizing water-soluble polymers possessing different end group structures, with the advantage of being easily interfaced with solution-based separation techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
在过去的几十年中，与塑料材料广泛增长的生产相关的固体废物管理，以及它们的耐用性，激发了人们对可生物降解聚合物越来越多的兴趣。目前，已经有多种可生物降解聚合物被引入市场，并且现在可以在不同领域（包装、生物医学、纺织品等）与不可生物降解的热塑性塑料竞争。然而，为了进一步拓宽应用范围而不损害生物降解性，仍然需要大量的努力来调整结构性能。提高可生物降解材料的性能需要对物理化学和机械参数进行很好的表征。聚合物分析可能涉及许多不同的特征，包括化学结构和组成的详细表征以及平均分子量的测定。这在聚合物制造过程的故障排除和质量控制中非常重要，尤其是在生物医学应用中。本文综述了近年来现代质谱（MS）在可生物降解材料结构表征方面的最新进展。它概述了用于评估其降解的分析工具。已经报道了 MALDI-TOF MS（基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间）和 ESI MS（电喷雾质谱）在确定可生物降解大分子的结构架构、拓扑结构、组成和端基化学结构方面的一些成功应用。然而，MS 方法最近已被应用于评估聚合物材料的生物降解性。ESI MS 是一种非常有用的技术，用于表征具有不同端基结构的水溶性聚合物，其优点是可以与基于溶液的分离技术（如高效液相色谱 (HPLC)）轻松接口。
