Isolation, characterization and application of biomedically important polymer P(3HB-co-4HB)

This diploma thesis deals with the isolation and characterization of copolymer P(3HB-co-4HB). The teoretical part was prepared as a literature search which describe polyhydroxyalkanoates in general, their structure, synthesis, degradation and isolation. Furthermore, copolymers containing 4HB units are mentioned in this thesis and there is also no mentioned of the biosynthesis and biodegradation of copolymer P(3HB-co-4HB). The first aim of this diploma thesis was to find out which solvent is the best for copolymer extraction and then characterize obtained copolymer P(3HB-co-4HB). The isolated copolymer was characterized by gas chromatography, SEC-MALS, thermal analysis and SEM. In the second part of the thesis, release of model biologically active substance from the PHA films was studied. Rhodamine 6G dye was selected for the simulation, which was used to stain the copolymer films and the P(3HB) films. It was observed that film prepared from P(3HB-co-4HB) copolymer released entrapped substance much faster than film made from P3HB homopolymer, and, in addition, the copolymer was substantially more susceptible to enzyme degradation