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Papers
61,005 resultsA focused review on recycling and hydrolysis techniques of polyethylene terephthalate
This review examines techniques for recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most common plastics found as microplastic pollution. Chemical recycling through hydrolysis shows the most promise for breaking PET back into its original building blocks for reuse. Improving PET recycling is important because reducing plastic waste at the source is one of the most effective ways to decrease microplastic contamination in the environment.
Polymer Chemistry: A primer to enzymatic polymer degradation
This review primer covers how enzymes can be used to biodegrade polymers, with applications for chemical recycling of plastics and removal of microplastic debris from the environment. Enzymatic degradation offers a targeted, environmentally friendly approach to breaking down persistent plastic polymers at the source.
Application of Different Chemical Recycling for Plastics
This review examines chemical recycling methods for plastic waste as alternatives to mechanical recycling, focusing on depolymerization via solvolysis, pyrolysis, and purification processes applicable to PET, polyurethane, and polystyrene. The authors discuss how these approaches convert polymer waste back into feedstock monomers that can be repolymerized, addressing value degradation and sorting limitations inherent to mechanical recycling.
Research progress on chemical depolymerization and upcycling of PET waste plastics
This review examines recent advances in chemical methods for breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste plastics into useful raw materials. Researchers surveyed techniques including glycolysis, methanolysis, hydrolysis, and aminolysis that can convert PET back into monomers for reuse. The study highlights chemical depolymerization as a promising approach to reduce plastic pollution while recovering valuable materials from waste.
Current Advances and Challenges in Chemical Recycling of Polymeric Materials
This review examines current advances and remaining challenges in chemical recycling of polymeric materials as an alternative to mechanical recycling, which degrades material properties with repeated cycling. The authors discuss the high efficiency and simpler preprocessing requirements of chemical recycling methods against a backdrop of approximately 150 million metric tonnes of annual global plastic waste generation.
Structural decay of poly(ethylene terephthalate) by enzymatic degradation
Researchers examined the structural decay of poly(ethylene terephthalate) through enzymatic degradation as a sustainable recycling strategy, finding this approach requires neither energy nor harsh solvents, offering a promising path for addressing microplastic pollution from PET products.
Enzymatic Degradation of PET plastic
This study tested commercial-grade enzymes for degrading PET plastic and found that enzymatic degradation was effective at laboratory scale but faced challenges for real-world application. Scaling up enzymatic PET recycling could reduce the persistence of plastic waste that eventually fragments into microplastics in the environment.
An Overview of the Non-Energetic Valorization Possibilities of Plastic Waste via Thermochemical Processes
This review surveys non-energetic valorization options for plastic waste through chemical recycling, covering solvolysis, enzymatic depolymerization, and catalytic cracking pathways that recover monomers or chemical feedstocks. The authors compare process maturity and economic viability, identifying PET and nylon depolymerization as the most commercially advanced chemical recycling routes.
Development of Enzyme-Based Approaches for Recycling PET on an Industrial Scale
This paper reviews the development of enzyme-based methods for breaking down PET plastic (used in bottles and packaging) at an industrial scale. While enzymatic recycling is a promising solution to plastic waste, current methods are still too slow and costly for widespread use. Improving these technologies could help reduce the enormous amount of PET entering the environment and breaking down into microplastics.
Light-driven polymer recycling to monomers and small molecules
Researchers reviewed how sunlight can be harnessed to chemically break down plastic waste into reusable molecules, offering a lower-energy alternative to heat-based recycling methods like pyrolysis. While still limited to certain plastic types, light-driven recycling shows promise for converting hard-to-recycle plastics into valuable chemical building blocks.
On technological solutions for recycling of recycling of polymer waste: A review
This paper is not directly about microplastics; it reviews technological approaches to recycling polymer waste — mechanical, chemical, and energy-based methods — and analyzes their economic and environmental trade-offs. Better plastic recycling technology is relevant to microplastic prevention insofar as it reduces the amount of plastic that degrades into environmental microplastic particles.
Process parameter optimization for waste polyethylene terephthalate bottle depolymerization using neutral hydrolysis
Researchers optimized process parameters for the neutral hydrolysis depolymerization of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles as a chemical recycling strategy to address growing plastic waste accumulation in landfills. The study identified key conditions that improve depolymerization efficiency, offering a pathway to recover high-quality monomers from post-consumer PET.
Microbial Degradation of Plastic Polymers
This review examines microbial degradation pathways for common synthetic plastics including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC, polyurethane, and PET, describing how mechanical and biological processes fragment plastics into microplastics and how microorganisms can be leveraged to address plastic pollution in aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Biodegradation of Microplastic: A Sustainable Approach
This review examines biological approaches to microplastic degradation, covering microorganisms and enzymes capable of breaking down common plastic polymers such as PET and polyethylene. Biodegradation could offer a sustainable path to reducing microplastic accumulation in soil, water, and marine environments.
Enzymatic Remediation of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)–Based Polymers for Effective Management of Plastic Wastes: An Overview
Enzymatic approaches for remediating PET-based plastic waste were reviewed, covering PETase and related enzymes that can break PET into reusable monomers. Enzyme engineering strategies to improve thermostability and catalytic efficiency are discussed as a pathway to scalable biological PET recycling.
Comparative Reactivity of Different Polyols in the PET Saponification Process
Researchers investigated the chemical depolymerization of PET plastic using different polyols and glycerol, finding that reaction conditions like temperature and chemical ratios controlled the molecular weight of the resulting oligomers. Ethylene glycol enabled rapid, complete PET breakdown within 30 minutes. Chemical recycling of PET through saponification could reduce the amount of PET that fragments into microplastics in the environment.
Biodegradation of Plastic and the Role of Microbial Enzymes in Plastic Waste Management
This review examines how microbial enzymes, particularly PET hydrolases and oxidative enzymes, can depolymerize and break down common plastic polymers through biological degradation. The study suggests that enzymatic approaches to plastic waste management offer a promising complement to mechanical and chemical recycling, though optimizing enzyme activity and scaling up the process remain key challenges.
Recent Advances in the Chemobiological Upcycling of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) into Value-Added Chemicals
This review covers recent advances in biological and chemical upcycling of PET plastic waste into value-added chemicals, examining degradation pathways including pyrolysis, gasification, and enzymatic depolymerization that break PET into monomers for use as bioconversion substrates.
Enzymatic PET Degradation
This review examines enzymatic degradation of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the plastic used in bottles and polyester clothing, as a promising pathway for breaking down this persistent polymer. Advances in engineering more efficient PET-degrading enzymes could enable industrial-scale biological recycling and reduce the environmental accumulation of PET microplastics.
Polyesters and deep eutectic solvents: From synthesis through modification to depolymerization
This review examines how deep eutectic solvents, a class of greener chemical alternatives, can be used throughout the lifecycle of polyester plastics, from manufacturing to recycling. Researchers found these solvents show promise for catalyzing plastic depolymerization in closed-loop recycling systems at lower cost than traditional methods. The study is relevant to microplastic pollution because improving plastic recycling could help reduce the amount of polyester waste that breaks down into microplastics in the environment.
Microbial enzymes for the recycling of recalcitrant petroleum‐based plastics: how far are we?
This review examines the progress in identifying microbial enzymes capable of breaking down petroleum-based plastics like polyethylene, polystyrene, polyurethane, and PET. Researchers highlight recent advances in using polyester-degrading enzymes to recover raw materials from PET waste through biocatalytic recycling. The study discusses the potential and remaining challenges of using biological approaches to address the growing global problem of plastic waste accumulation.
Light-Driven Polymer Recycling to Monomers and Small Molecules
Researchers developed and reviewed light-driven photochemical methods for recycling polymers back into monomers and small molecules, presenting an energy-efficient alternative to high-temperature pyrolysis and other chemical recycling approaches. The study shows that photocatalytic depolymerization can achieve selective bond cleavage at lower energy inputs, advancing the viability of circular polymer chemistry.
Degradation and Recycling of Polymer Materials
This review synthesizes research on the degradation and recycling of polymer materials, covering microplastic formation, recycling strategies, and plastic degradation mechanisms as responses to the significant environmental damage caused by discarded plastics in ocean and other ecosystems.
Optimization of Pressurized Alkaline Hydrolysis for Chemical Recycling of Post-Consumer PET Waste
This study optimized pressurized alkaline hydrolysis conditions for chemically recycling post-consumer PET waste into its constituent monomers, demonstrating a pathway to improve the efficiency of PET depolymerization.