Biodegradable polymers must degrade completely to CO₂, H₂O, small and non-toxic molecules (e.g. NO₃⁻ and NH₃/NH₄⁺), and biomass on a similar timescale to classically compostable materials (3–12 months). More importantly, the degradation intermediates - the compounds that form as a polymeric material breaks down in the environment, before being mineralized or bio-assimilated also need to be non-toxic. Here, for the first time, the identity of the degradation intermediates formed from the breakdown of a sprayable, biodegradable poly(ester-urethane-urea) was investigated using a liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) system. This was accomplished by degrading the polymer in abiotic aqueous media for varying lengths of time and in soil media for 57 days, and analyzing the degradation media for polymer degradation intermediates. It was found that during degradation, monomers and short oligomers were formed containing amino, alcohol and carboxylic acid moieties. Interestingly, the most prominent degradation products formed during abiotic degradation (6-hydroxy hexanoic acid, and its oligomers) were not detectable when the polymer was degraded in a soil environment. Gel permeation chromatography confirmed that the polymer's molecular weight was substantially reduced during the degradation studies, but the presence of polymer fragments >1000 Da in the soil indicated that there would be an ongoing release of 6-hydroxy hexanoic acid and its oligomers. Taken together this suggests that those molecules were rapidly bio-assimilated by the soil microbial community.

可生物降解的聚合物必须完全降解成CO ₂，H ₂ O，小和非毒性分子（例如NO ₃ ^-和NH ₃ / NH ₄ ⁺）和生物量，时间与经典可堆肥材料（3-12个月）相似。更重要的是，降解中间体-作为聚合材料形成的化合物在被矿化或生物同化之前在环境中会分解，也需要无毒。在这里，首次使用液相色谱质谱（LC-MS）系统研究了由可喷雾，可生物降解的聚（酯-氨基甲酸酯-脲）分解产生的降解中间体的身份。这是通过以下方法完成的：在不同时间长度的非生物水性介质中降解聚合物，在土壤介质中降解57天，然后分析降解介质中的聚合物降解中间体。发现在降解过程中，形成了含有氨基的单体和短低聚物，醇和羧酸部分。有趣的是，当聚合物在土壤环境中降解时，无法检测到非生物降解过程中形成的最突出的降解产物（6-羟基己酸及其低聚物）。凝胶渗透色谱法证实，在降解研究过程中，聚合物的分子量大大降低，但土壤中聚合物片段> 1000 Da的存在表明，将持续释放6-羟基己酸及其低聚物。综上所述，这表明这些分子被土壤微生物群落迅速地生物吸收了。当聚合物在土壤环境中降解时，则无法检测到。凝胶渗透色谱法证实，在降解研究过程中，聚合物的分子量大大降低，但土壤中聚合物片段> 1000 Da的存在表明，将持续释放6-羟基己酸及其低聚物。综上所述，这表明这些分子被土壤微生物群落迅速地生物吸收了。当聚合物在土壤环境中降解时，则无法检测到。凝胶渗透色谱法证实，在降解研究过程中，聚合物的分子量大大降低，但土壤中聚合物片段> 1000 Da的存在表明，将持续释放6-羟基己酸及其低聚物。综上所述，这表明这些分子被土壤微生物群落迅速地生物吸收了。