UV Pretreatment Impairs the Enzymatic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate.

ABSTRACT: The biocatalytic degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) emerged recently as a promising alternative plastic recycling method. However, limited activity of previously known enzymes against post-consumer PET materials still prevents the application on an industrial scale. In this study, the influence of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation as a potential pretreatment method for the enzymatic degradation of PET was investigated. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) and 1H solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis indicated a shortening of the polymer chains of UV-treated PET due to intra-chain scissions. The degradation of UV-treated PET films by a polyester hydrolase resulted in significantly lower weight losses compared to the untreated sample. We also

SUBMITTER: Falkenstein P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7199389 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature