Mechanoenzymatic reactions for the hydrolysis of PET. Issue 15 (29th March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ambrose-Dempster, Esther; Leipold, Leona; Dobrijevic, Dragana; Bawn, Maria; Carter, Eve M.; Stojanovski, Gorjan; Sheppard, Tom D.; Jeffries, Jack W. E.; Ward, John M.; Hailes, Helen C.
• Is Part Of: RSC advances. Volume 13:Issue 15(2023)
• Page Start: 9954
• Page End: 9962
• Publication Date: 2023-03-29
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/d3ra01708g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-2069

Abstract

Abstract : Mechanoenzymatic reactions are described for the degradation of different PET materials using whole cell PETases. Abstract : Recent advances in the enzymatic degradation of poly(ethylene terphthalate) (PET) have led to a number of PET hydrolytic enzymes and mutants being developed. With the amount of PET building up in the natural world, there is a pressing need to develop scalable methods of breaking down the polymer into its monomers for recycling or other uses. Mechanoenzymatic reactions have gained traction recently as a green and efficient alternative to traditional biocatalytic reactions. For the first time we report increased yields of PET degradation by whole cell PETase enzymes by up to 27-fold by utilising ball milling cycles of reactive aging, when compared with typical solution-based reactions. This methodology leads to up to a 2600-fold decrease in the solvent required when compared with other leading degradation reactions in the field and a 30-fold decrease in comparison to reported industrial scale PET hydrolysis reactions.