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Microorganism Battle! How to use bacteria to automatically decompose plastic?
As the use of plastic products becomes more and more common, the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment becomes more and more serious. Every year, hundreds of millions of plastics are produced around the world, but more than 90% of plastics are not completely recycled. This has left the scientific community looking for new solutions, one of which is the application of biodegradable additives. These additives can promote the decomposition of plastics under the action of microorganisms, making their degradation process not only dependent on natural environmental factors.
Biodegradable additives change the decomposition mechanism of plastics by attracting microorganisms, allowing them to use the carbon in the plastic as an energy source.
How biodegradable additives work
The main function of biodegradable additives is to help microorganisms recognize and consume plastics. They can increase the rate of degradation by changing the chemical and physical properties of plastics. Rather than relying solely on light or heat to destroy the plastic structure, biodegradable additives enable microorganisms to break down the carbon in the plastic chain, either directly or indirectly.
Direct Action
Certain microorganisms can directly consume plastic debris and utilize its carbon source. For example, Brevibacillus borstelensis and other microorganisms can directly eat polyethylene, which can improve degradation efficiency under certain circumstances. However, the molecular weight and structure of the polymer will affect the degradation ability of microorganisms, and high molecular weight polymers are more difficult for microorganisms to decompose directly.
Indirect action
Rather than direct consumption, many microorganisms often rely on indirect action to degrade plastics by secreting enzymes that break down the plastic structure. This process, also known as hydrolysis or oxidation, breaks down plastics into smaller molecules. At this point, microorganisms can use these lower molecular weight products as a source of energy.
Common enzymes involved in the biodegradation of plastics include lipase and hydrogenase. The effects of these enzymes depend on the type of plastic being processed.
Various types of biodegradable additives
There are many types of biodegradable additives, common ones include starch, bioaugmentation technology and pro-oxidants. Starch is one of the most commonly used biodegradable additives and is included in many synthetic plastic mixtures due to its tendency to be directly consumed by microorganisms. Bioaugmentation technology adds specific microorganisms directly to plastics to enhance their degradability.
Even compostable plastics such as polylactic acid can significantly increase their degradation rate after bioaugmentation.
Testing the effectiveness of biodegradable additives
To verify the effectiveness of biodegradable additives in the degradation process of plastics, scientists often conduct various tests, including comparisons of changes in physical properties and measurements of carbon dioxide or methane produced after degradation. These tests help us understand how plastics degrade when different additives are added.
Environmental impact
The application potential of biodegradable additives is huge, and they can significantly reduce the environmental pressure caused by non-biodegradable plastics. As the consumption of plastics continues to grow, there is an increasing need to find new biodegradable additives. The latest research in the scientific community is focusing on achieving biodegradability in the short term, hoping to shorten the plastic degradation cycle to months or even years.
Can we find better ways to make plastics biodegradable to protect our environment?
