Polyethylene Terephthalate Degradation by Microalga Chlorella vulgaris Along with Pretreatment

Abstract

The current research explored the potential of microalgal species Chlorella vulgaris and Pretreatment to remediate plastic waste. It was concluded from the results that Pretreatment had a marked effect on the cracking and alteration of plastic polymer, which helped to grow microbial species on the cracked surface as evident by Compound Microscopy (CM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. FTIR data also supported the notion that in the absence of any pretreatment, the microbial species were not able to mediate plastic biodegradation efficiently as the nature of functional groups was different in the presence and absence of Pretreatment. GCMS analysis revealed that the microbial specie could produce the biodegradation products which were likely to be found in the structure of PET, including alkanes ester, fatty acids, benzoic acid, and aromatics and the most toxic product of biodegradation is Bis (2-Ethyl hexyl phthalate), which is the biodegradation product of toxic ingredient of plastics that is phthalic acid.

Assessment of the Influence of Size and Concentration on the Ecotoxicity of Microplastics to Microalgae Scenedesmus sp., Bacterium Pseudomonas putida and Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

“…Also, the increase in inhibition with the increase in MPs concentration was least expressed in the case of PET. Recent researches [ 43 , 44 , 45 ] have confirmed that some microalgae can produce PET hydrolyzing enzymes called PETases and use PET as substrate. Although it is difficult to claim that this was the case in our experiment without performing a detailed analysis, especially when dealing with a 3-day exposure period, this assumption cannot be dismissed.…”

Progressing Ultragreen, Energy-Efficient Biobased Depolymerization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) via Microwave-Assisted Green Deep Eutectic Solvent and Enzymatic Treatment

“…As shown in Figure 1 , depolymerization of PET is postulated to involve a form of glycolysis reaction due to the presence of glycerol within the ternary DES [ 15 ]. It is also known that a quaternary ammonium compound, such as ChCl and DES itself, could act as a catalyst in mild glycolysis [ 7 , 8 , 15 , 26 ]. Simultaneously, the H-bond action between glycerol and urea is expected to change the charge density of the hydroxyl (OH) group in glycerol and increase the electronegativity of the oxygen atom in the glycerol OH group.…”

“…Recently, new combinations of physiochemical treatment techniques have been applied to overcome existing hindrances to biodepolymerization [ 25 ]. For instance, Falah et al [ 26 ] proposed several sequential physiochemical treatments, including ultraviolet, high temperature, and nitric acid solvent treatment, prior to exposing PET for enzymatic degradation. The authors observed the development of cracks on the PET surface after treatment, which led to some enhancement in the enzymatic degradation of PET.…”

Potential Use of Microbial Enzymes for the Conversion of Plastic Waste Into Value-Added Products: A Viable Solution

“…Interlevel interactions in a mixed community of microalgae and bacteria have a large impact on system resilience ( Sörenson et al, 2021 ). The potential of the microalgal species Chlorella vulgaris with pretreatment, marked by its effectiveness in cracking and changing polymers, aids the growth of microorganisms on fractured surfaces ( Falah et al, 2020 ). They found that the microbial species could produce the biodegradation products found in PET, such as alkane esters, fatty acids, benzoic acid, and aromatics, and the most toxic biodegradation product is bis(2-ethyl hexyl phthalate).…”