Journal article
Shunli Wang, K. A. Lydon, Evan M. White, Joe B. Grubbs, E. Lipp, J. Locklin, J. Jambeck
Environmental Science and Technology, 2018
Environmental Science and Technology, 2018
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APA
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Wang, S., Lydon, K. A., White, E. M., Grubbs, J. B., Lipp, E., Locklin, J., & Jambeck, J. (2018). Biodegradation of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) Plastic under Anaerobic Sludge and Aerobic Seawater Conditions: Gas Evolution and Microbial Diversity. Environmental Science and Technology.
Chicago/Turabian
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Wang, Shunli, K. A. Lydon, Evan M. White, Joe B. Grubbs, E. Lipp, J. Locklin, and J. Jambeck. “Biodegradation of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate- Co-3-Hydroxyhexanoate) Plastic under Anaerobic Sludge and Aerobic Seawater Conditions: Gas Evolution and Microbial Diversity.” Environmental Science and Technology (2018).
MLA
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Wang, Shunli, et al. “Biodegradation of Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate- Co-3-Hydroxyhexanoate) Plastic under Anaerobic Sludge and Aerobic Seawater Conditions: Gas Evolution and Microbial Diversity.” Environmental Science and Technology, 2018.
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@article{shunli2018a,
title = {Biodegradation of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) Plastic under Anaerobic Sludge and Aerobic Seawater Conditions: Gas Evolution and Microbial Diversity.},
year = {2018},
journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
author = {Wang, Shunli and Lydon, K. A. and White, Evan M. and Grubbs, Joe B. and Lipp, E. and Locklin, J. and Jambeck, J.}
}
Abstract
Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (poly(3HB- co-3HHx)) thermoplastics are a promising biodegradable alternative to traditional plastics for many consumer applications. Biodegradation measured by gaseous carbon loss of several types of poly(3HB- co-3HHx) plastic was investigated under anaerobic conditions and aerobic seawater environments. Under anaerobic conditions, the biodegradation levels of a manufactured sheet of poly(3HB- co-3HHx) and cellulose powder were not significantly different from one another over 85 days with 77.1 ± 6.1 and 62.9 ± 19.7% of the carbon converted to gas, respectively. However, the sheet of poly(3HB- co-3HHx) had significantly higher methane yield ( p ≤ 0.05), 483.8 ± 35.2 mL·g-1 volatile solid (VS), compared to cellulose controls, 290.1 ± 92.7 mL·g-1 VS, which is attributed to a greater total carbon content. Under aerobic seawater conditions (148-195 days at room temperature), poly(3HB- co-3HHx) sheets were statistically similar to cellulose for biodegradation as gaseous carbon loss (up to 83% loss in about 6 months), although the degradation rate was lower than that for cellulose. The microbial diversity was investigated in both experiments to explore the dominant bacteria associated with biodegradation of poly(3HB- co-3HHx) plastic. For poly(3HB- co-3HHx) treatments, Cloacamonales and Thermotogales were enriched under anaerobic sludge conditions, while Clostridiales, Gemmatales, Phycisphaerales, and Chlamydiales were the most enriched under aerobic seawater conditions.