Rapid biodegradation of microplastics generated from bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane

The accumulation of microplastics in various ecosystems has now been well documented and recent evidence suggests detrimental effects on various biological processes due to this pollution. Accumulation of microplastics in the natural environment is ultimately due to the chemical nature of widely use...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 6036 - 10
Main Authors: Allemann, Marco N., Tessman, Marissa, Reindel, Jaysen, Scofield, Gordon B., Evans, Payton, Pomeroy, Robert S., Burkart, Michael D., Mayfield, Stephen P., Simkovsky, Ryan
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.03.2024
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
09 BIOMASS FUELS
631/326/171/1818
631/326/2522
631/61/54/991
639/638/224/685
704/172/4081
Biodegradation
Biodegradation, Environmental
Biofilms
bioplastics
Carbon sources
Depolymerization
Ecosystem
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Humanities and Social Sciences
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Microplastics
multidisciplinary
Natural environment
Plastic debris
Plastic pollution
Plastics - chemistry
Polymers
Polyurethane
Polyurethanes - chemistry
Scanning electron microscopy
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The accumulation of microplastics in various ecosystems has now been well documented and recent evidence suggests detrimental effects on various biological processes due to this pollution. Accumulation of microplastics in the natural environment is ultimately due to the chemical nature of widely used petroleum-based plastic polymers, which typically are inaccessible to biological processing. One way to mitigate this crisis is adoption of plastics that biodegrade if released into natural environments. In this work, we generated microplastic particles from a bio-based, biodegradable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU-FC1) and demonstrated their rapid biodegradation via direct visualization and respirometry. Furthermore, we isolated multiple bacterial strains capable of using TPU-FC1 as a sole carbon source and characterized their depolymerization products. To visualize biodegradation of TPU materials as real-world products, we generated TPU-coated cotton fabric and an injection molded phone case and documented biodegradation by direct visualization and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), both of which indicated clear structural degradation of these materials and significant biofilm formation.
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SC0019986
Ag_Pub_0012
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Office of SBIR/STTR Programs (SBIR/STTR)
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-56492-6