Control of Enzymatic Degradation of Microbial Polyesters by Plasma Modification

The rate of enzymatic degradation of surface‐modified microbial polyesters, poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] and poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate], was studied. The plasma treatments were carried out in a CF3H or O2 environment. It was found that the CF3H plasma‐treated polyesters exhibited significant retardation of enzymatic erosion because of the surface fluorocarbon groups induced by CF3H plasma. These surface fluorocarbon groups act as retardants on enzymatic degradation due to increased hydrophobicity and of the inactivity of enzymes. However, the increased surface hydrophilicity of polyesters induced by O2 plasma results in no significant acceleration of the enzymatic erosion, which may be due to the thin modified layer. Weight loss profiles of P(3HB) film exposed to CF3H plasma as a function of plasma exposure time.