Biodegradable polymers: Sectorial overview and prospects

This work on biodegradable polymers involved an analysis of patents to identify indicators for evaluating the prospects and opportunities of action in the field of polymers. We used the Spacenet database and Vantage Point software. The study encompassed the following polymers: polyhydroxybutyrate - PHB, polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate - PHBV, polylactic acid - PLA, poly (epsilon-caprolactone) - PCL and the polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), dealt in greater detail because they represent the general class of microbial polyesters. We found that, although the field of biodegradable polymers is new and still under development, it holds great potential in view of present widespread use of polymeric materials. Overall we found a great diversity of themes and opportunities for studies on compounds, blends, biodegradation and applications.