Investigación de biopolímeros

Abstracto

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Polyhydroxyalkanoate from Activated Sludge and Biopolymer Characterization

Cecilia James

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biodegradable in nature with the potential to substitute for fossil-fuel based polymers due to their similar properties. Many studies have been conducted on the production of PHA, but the extraction/purification processes have received less attention. Mostly, solvent extraction has been studied, as has the effect of different solvent types on separation processes. A better extraction method for PHA makes it a viable alternative to polymers derived from fossil fuels. A new protocol for extracting PHA from activated sludge using supercritical carbon dioxide disruption (sCO2 ) and recovering biopolymers from disrupted cells was proposed in this study.