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Enhanced Biodegradation of Fenton-treated Polypropylene by Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album
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Fenton oxidation pretreatment followed by fungal biodegradation using Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album achieved up to 16.5% weight loss in polypropylene films over 90 days. This combined chemical-biological approach offers a promising pathway for breaking down polypropylene microplastics in environmental or industrial waste streams.
Polypropylene (PP) is a widely used synthetic polymer, but only 1% is currently recycled, leading to significant environmental challenges. To address this, a biological approach using Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album fungi was explored to degrade Fenton-treated PP. These fungi were selected for their potential to degrade PP granules (GPP), films (FPP), and metallised films (MFPP). After 90 days of incubation, weight loss was measured, with MFPP degraded by E. album showing the highest weight loss (16.53%) compared to A. terreus (7.97%). Significant differences were observed in FPP and GPP compared to controls (p<0.05). E. album produced more biomass (0.80 mg/ml) than A. terreus (0.62 mg/ml) after 90 days, correlating with PP weight loss (0.66 and 0.87 for A. terreus and E. album, respectively). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) validated PP degradation, showing consistent morphological changes. This study demonstrates the potential of E. album and A. terreus to degrade PP, offering a promising strategy for future plastic waste reduction and disposal.
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