Upcycling Biodegradable PVA/Starch Film to a Bacterial Biopigment and Biopolymer.

ABSTRACT: Meeting the challenge of circularity for plastics requires amenability to repurposing post-use, as equivalent or upcycled products. In a compelling advancement, complete circularity for a biodegradable polyvinyl alcohol/thermoplastic starch (PVA/TPS) food packaging film was demonstrated by bioconversion to high-market-value biopigments and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) polyesters. The PVA/TPS film mechanical properties (tensile strength (σu), 22.2 ± 4.3 MPa; strain at break (εu), 325 ± 73%; and Young's modulus (E), 53-250 MPa) compared closely with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) grades used for food packaging. Strong solubility of the PVA/TPS film in water was a pertinent feature, facilitating suitability as a carbon source for bioprocessing and microbial degradation. Biodegradability of the

SUBMITTER: Pantelic B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8588134 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature