Biodegradation of a colloidal ester-based polyurethane by soil fungi

Crabbe, Joel R.; Campbell, James; Thompson, Laura; Walz, Stephen L.; Schultz, Warren W.

doi:10.1016/0964-8305(94)90030-2

Cited by 177 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The high increment in esterase activity observed at 7 days of culture, and the fact that it still remains active after 14 days, suggest that it might be responsible for the attack on ester and urethane groups in the PU, as observed by FTIR and GC-MS analysis. Several fungi displaying esterase activity suggested to be responsible for PS-PU biodegradation were previously reported (12,35). Although urease activity has been suggested to participate in PU biodegradation (15,20), it seems not to have a relevant role in Impranil biodegradation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradative Activities of Selected Environmental Fungi on a Polyester Polyurethane Varnish and Polyether Polyurethane Foams

Álvarez-Barragán

Domínguez-Malfavón

Vargas-Suárez

et al. 2016

Appl Environ Microbiol

189

111

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Polyurethane (PU) is widely used in many aspects of modern life because of its versatility and resistance. However, PU waste disposal generates large problems, since it is slowly degraded, there are limited recycling processes, and its destruction may generate toxic compounds. In this work, we isolated fungal strains able to grow in mineral medium with a polyester PU (PS-PU; Impranil DLN) or a polyether PU (PE-PU; Poly Lack) varnish as the only carbon source. Of the eight best Impranil-degrading strains, the six best degraders belonged to the Cladosporium cladosporioides complex, including the species C. pseudocladosporioides, C. tenuissimum, C. asperulatum, and C. montecillanum, and the two others were identified as Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium chrysogenum. The best Impranil degrader, C. pseudocladosporioides strain T1.PL.1, degraded up to 87% after 14 days of incubation. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis of Impranil degradation by this strain showed a loss of carbonyl groups (1,729 cm ؊1 ) and NOH bonds (1,540 and 1,261 cm ؊1 ), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis showed a decrease in ester compounds and increase in alcohols and hexane diisocyanate, indicating the hydrolysis of ester and urethane bonds. Extracellular esterase and low urease, but not protease activities were detected at 7 and 14 days of culture in Impranil. The best eight Impranil-degrading fungi were also able to degrade solid foams of the highly recalcitrant PE-PU type to different extents, with the highest levels generating up to 65% of dry-weight losses not previously reported. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of fungus-treated foams showed melted and thinner cell wall structures than the non-fungus-treated ones, demonstrating fungal biodegradative action on PE-PU. IMPORTANCEPolyurethane waste disposal has become a serious problem. In this work, fungal strains able to efficiently degrade different types of polyurethanes are reported, and their biodegradative activity was studied by different experimental approaches. Varnish biodegradation analyses showed that fungi were able to break down the polymer in some of their precursors, offering the possibility that they may be recovered and used for new polyurethane synthesis. Also, the levels of degradation of solid polyether polyurethane foams reported in this work have never been observed previously. Isolation of efficient polyurethane-degrading microorganisms and delving into the mechanisms they used to degrade the polymer provide the basis for the development of biotechnological processes for polyurethane biodegradation and recycling. P olyurethane (PU), one of the most versatile polymers invented by humans, is synthesized from a wide variety of precursors generating almost infinite types of materials, from elastomers and varnishes to highly resistant components, such as automotive parts, foams, semirigid plastics, and textile fibers. Due to their versatility, PUs are widely used in different human activities as a substit...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradative Activities of Selected Environmental Fungi on a Polyester Polyurethane Varnish and Polyether Polyurethane Foams

Álvarez-Barragán

Domínguez-Malfavón

Vargas-Suárez

et al. 2016

Appl Environ Microbiol

189

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…It has been found that polyurethane foams prepared from liquefied cellulose, bark and starch can be degraded in soil (Hatakeyama 1996;Ge et al 2000;Lee et al 2002). It has been also reported that synthetic polyester-type polyurethane foams are decomposed by a number of fungi and bacteria (Daby and Kaplan 1968;Crabbe et al 1994;Nakajima-Kambe et al 1995), and this degradation is generally initiated by hydrolysis of the ester bond with hydrolytic enzymes such as esterase. Many groups reported the purification and characterization of those enzymes (Pathirana and Seal 1984;Kay et al 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradability and Risk Assessment of Biomass-based Polymeric Materials

Han¹,

Park²,

Jang³

et al. 2015

Journal of Forest and Environmental Science

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With the intention to solve environmental problems caused by synthetic plastics from petroleum resources, biodegradable polyurethane foams and thermosetting moldings were prepared from biomass, such as wood and wheat bran by liquefaction method. Biodegradability of these biomass-based polymeric materials was investigated. In activated sludge, polyurethane foams from liquefied wheat bran and thermosetting molding from phenolated wood were decomposed approximately 14% and 29% for 20 days, respectively. One of the wood fungi, Coriolus versicolor was able to grow without supplemental nutrition, only with distilled water and polyurethane foam as a nutrition source. Risk assessments were also conducted and results showed that estrogenicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity were not observed in the extractives of biomass-based polymeric materials.

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“…An aliquot of 1 ml was used to enumerate the total fungal viable count by plating onto compost extract agar (15) containing 50 g/ml chloramphenicol (to suppress bacterial growth) following serial dilution in phosphate-buffered saline. PU-degrading microbes were enumerated by plating onto polyurethane agar (PUA) (22) supplemented with chloramphenicol (50 g/ml) and containing 0.75% (vol/vol) impranil (a liquid dispersion of PU; Bayer, Newbury, United Kingdom) as the sole carbon source. The plates were incubated for up to 1 week at the same temperature the PU samples had been incubated.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The only exception was Geomyces pannorum, which was recovered from the PU surface in compost, but not in soil, although it was recovered at weeks 1, 4, and 8. Many of the fungi recovered have been reported to be associated with PU degradation previously (8,15,17,20,22,35). Thus, culturing suggests a limited species diversity on the surface of PU when buried in either soil or compost, but cultivation is known to be unreliable and to underreport the true diversity of microbial populations, as only a highly limited proportion of species (estimated to be Ͻ1 to 5%) grow readily on synthetic media (51,52).…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungal Communities Associated with the Biodegradation of Polyester Polyurethane Buried under Compost at Different Temperatures

Zafar

Houlden

Robson

2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Plastics play an essential role in the modern world due to their low cost and durability. However, accumulation of plastic waste in the environment causes wide-scale pollution with long-lasting effects, making plastic waste management expensive and problematic. Polyurethanes (PUs) are heteropolymers that made up ca. 7% of the total plastic production in Europe in 2011. Polyester PUs in particular have been extensively reported as susceptible to microbial biodegradation in the environment, particularly by fungi. In this study, we investigated the impact of composting on PUs, as composting is a microbially rich process that is increasingly being used for the processing of green waste and food waste as an economically viable alternative to landfill disposal. PU coupons were incubated for 12 weeks in fresh compost at 25°C, 45°C, and 50°C to emulate the thermophilic and maturation stages of the composting process. Incubation at all temperatures caused significant physical deterioration of the polyester PU coupons and was associated with extensive fungal colonization. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis and pyrosequencing of the fungal communities on the PU surface and in the surrounding compost revealed that the population on the surface of PU was different from the surrounding compost community, suggesting enrichment and selection. The most dominant fungi identified from the surfaces of PU coupons by pyrosequencing was Fusarium solani at 25°C, while at both 45°C and 50°C, Candida ethanolica was the dominant species. The results of this preliminary study suggest that the composting process has the potential to biodegrade PU waste if optimized further in the future.

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Biodegradation of a colloidal ester-based polyurethane by soil fungi

Cited by 177 publications

References 3 publications

Biodegradative Activities of Selected Environmental Fungi on a Polyester Polyurethane Varnish and Polyether Polyurethane Foams

Biodegradative Activities of Selected Environmental Fungi on a Polyester Polyurethane Varnish and Polyether Polyurethane Foams

Biodegradability and Risk Assessment of Biomass-based Polymeric Materials

Fungal Communities Associated with the Biodegradation of Polyester Polyurethane Buried under Compost at Different Temperatures

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