Biodegradation of nylon4 and its blend with nylon6

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The nylon4 portion in the blend films composed of nylon4 and nylon6 was degraded and completely disappeared within 4 months in two kinds of composted soils gathered from different university farms as well as pure nylon4 film reported previously, while the nylon6 portion remained even after the burial test for 15 months. Nylon4 powder was also degraded to carbon dioxide in the degradation test in an activated sludge obtained from a sewage disposal institution in Kogakuin University. Three species of microoganisms (i.e., ascomytous fungi) were isolated through the inoculation from the nylon4 film partially degraded in the soil on a medium containing nylon4 powder as a carbon source.

Synthesis of novel block copolymers containing polyamide4 segments and control of their biodegradability

“…The films of block copolymers ( 6 and 7 ) were obtained by casting from their 2,2,2‐trifluoroethanol solution and buried in a composted soil gathered from the same university farm as in our previous work 10, 13…”

“…Recently polyamide4 ( 1 ) easily obtained by the anionic polymerization of 2‐pyrrolidone ( 2 ) has been reported to degrade in composted soils and activated sludge 10–13. In the blend films composed of polyamide4 and polyamide6, only the polyamide4 portion degraded in the composted soils 13…”

Methanol-based γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) production by genetically engineered Bacillus methanolicus strains

“…GABA is a precursor of 2-pyrrolidone, a monomer of polyamide 4 (PA4) also known as nylon 4 which is a bio-based polymer with remarkable mechanical and thermal properties resulting from its high melting point (Kawasaki et al, 2005). PA4 is degraded in soil and activated sludge by diverse microorganisms including Pseudomonas sp., Fusarium solani, F. oxysporum, and Clonostachys rosea (Hashimoto et al, 2004(Hashimoto et al, , 2002(Hashimoto et al, , 1994Kawasaki et al, 2005;Yamano et al, 2008). GABA is naturally produced by different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains such as Lactobacillus lactis, L. brevis or L. plantarum (Franciosi et al, 2015;Nomura et al, 1998;Tajabadi et al, 2015b).…”

Polyamide4‐block‐poly(vinyl acetate) via a polyamide4 azo macromolecular initiator: Thermal and mechanical behavior, biodegradation, and morphology

“…It has been found that under inactive research circumstances, PA4 is biodegradable in various environments such as in soil, sea water, and activated sludge, in spite of its outstanding properties such as its high melting point and tensile strength . Further, PRN, which is the monomer of PA4, can be derived from glucose using glutamic acid and γ‐aminobutyric acid by a combination of biochemical and chemical processes .…”