用植物油开发生物塑料

人类的生活离不开塑料,但传统上用以提炼塑料的化石原料非常有限。因此,利用可再生资源制造聚酯是未来塑料生产的发展方向。例如,从糖、纤维素和植物油中提炼出用以制造塑料化学单体的生物塑料技术就是其中的希望之星。     

生物塑料：新兴的朝阳产业

北京奥运会和残奥会虽然已经落下帷幕,但给世人留下了“绿色奥运”的理念和实践——奥运会使用的570万个垃圾袋全部采用全降解生物塑料,这种塑料袋以玉米淀粉为原料,丢弃后72天内即可自然分解为二氧化碳和水,不会对环境造成任何污染．奥运餐具将使用可降解生物塑料餐具;     

微塑料附着微生物研究进展

近年来,微塑料引起的环境污染已经成为一个全球性的问题,在海洋环境中,微生物可以附着于微塑料表面形成生物被膜。已有研究表明生物被膜可以为生活在其内部的细菌提供保护,被膜中可能富集了对人体或者水生生物有害的致病菌,且频繁的基因交流可能产生更多耐药菌。微塑料表面附着的微生物,能借助大洋环流随微塑料在海洋中迁徙,进而可能引起微生物入侵事件的发生。主要对微塑料与生物被膜之间的相互作用、微塑料与附着在其表面的塑料降解菌、微塑料与致病菌、微塑料对微生物迁徙的影响,以及微塑料表面生物被膜中耐药基因的扩散进行综述,对微塑料附着微生物未来研究方向进行了展望,为更好地了解海洋微塑料污染提供参考。     

微塑料污染对浮游生物影响研究进展

微塑料作为一种新型的环境污染物,大量存在于水环境中,给水生生物带来了极大的危害。浮游生物是水生食物链的基础,是水生生态系统物质循环和能量流动的重要环节;同时,浮游生物也是对各种环境污染物最敏感的类群。了解微塑料对浮游生物的影响是评价其生态风险的重要依据。本文介绍了环境中微塑料来源、特征及水生态系统微塑料污染现状,阐述了微塑料对水生生物的直接和间接危害,并重点聚焦于浮游植物和浮游动物,从个体、种群和群落的层次详细总结了微塑料的影响及其作用机制。最后,本文指出当前针对浮游生物微观基因和蛋白质组学,以及宏观种群和群落响应等方面的研究还非常缺乏,为今后开展微塑料危害研究提供参考。     

发展生物塑料是大势所趋

随着石油能源供需矛盾日趋紧张、油价上涨,以及源于石油生产的各类塑料制品废弃后难以降解,严重污染了环境(有“白色污染”之称),发展可生物降解的“生物塑料”(即生态友好塑料)以取而代之,是大势所趋,是塑料产业今后的发展方向。生物技术应用于生物塑料的发展有广阔的前景。日     

全球生物塑料应用市场潜力巨大

2008年上半年,在美国召开的塑料工程师学会年会指出,全球生物塑料生产将从2007年的26．24万t提高到2011年的99．88万t,显示出可再生资源生产聚合物的技术进步,推动了全球生物塑料生产持续升温。全球消费的生物塑料仍仅占全部2．31亿t塑料的0．7％,应用市场空间与潜力较大。     

循环生物经济背景下我国塑料降解回收发展的机遇、挑战及建议

当前,白色污染造成的消极影响已经扩散到人类社会经济、生态和健康等各个方面,循环生物经济发展进程面临严峻挑战。作为全球最大的塑料生产消费国家,我国在塑料污染的治理问题上肩负着重要责任。在此背景下,本文分析了美国、欧洲、日本与我国塑料降解与回收的相关战略,并对该领域的文献与专利展开计量,从研发趋势、主要研发国家和研发机构等角度了解其技术研发现状,探讨我国塑料降解回收发展面临的机会与挑战,最终提出了政策体系、技术路径、产业发展与公众认知四位一体的未来发展建议。     

生物塑料产业专利分析

生物塑料是在微生物作用下生成的塑料, 或者是以淀粉等天然物质为基础生成的塑料.生物塑料不依赖石油等化石资源,而是以生物质为原料,具有良好的生物相容性、生物可降解性、其降解产物无毒副作用以及能减少温室气体排放等优点,是具有重要意义的新材料.     

聚乳酸塑料合成、生物降解及其废弃物处置的研究进展

随着国内外禁塑令和限塑令的升级,以聚乳酸(polylactic acid, PLA)为代表的生物基塑料成为传统石油基塑料市场的主要替代品,备受产业界的青睐。然而,公众对生物基塑料的认识仍存在诸多误解。事实上,生物基塑料的降解需要在特定条件下才能实现,泄入到自然环境中同样难以降解,会对人体、生物多样性和生态系统功能造成危害,这与传统石油基塑料相似。近年来,随着我国PLA产能和市场规模不断的提高,亟需进一步加强对PLA等生物基塑料降解性能的认识,挖掘PLA生物降解资源,关注和研究生物基塑料回收处理模式。基于上述背景,本文首先介绍了PLA塑料的性质及合成方式,以及PLA塑料的产业化与市场规模;其次,对目前聚乳酸塑料微生物与酶法降解的研究进展进行了综述,并对其生物降解机制进行了探讨;最后,提出了微生物原位处理和酶法闭环回收两种聚乳酸塑料废弃物生物处置方法,并对PLA生物基塑料的发展前景和趋势进行了展望。     

海洋微塑料污染的生态效应研究进展

海洋微塑料污染已成为全球性环境问题。微塑料粒径小,易与海洋生物发生相互作用,可通过多种途径进入海洋生物体内,并在其组织和器官中蓄积和转移,对机体产生毒害。微塑料可沿食物链进行传递,威胁海洋生态系统的健康与稳定。因此,海洋生物与微塑料的相互作用以及海洋微塑料污染的生态效应成为当前研究的热点。综述微塑料的生物附着、生物摄入、对海洋生物的毒性效应及其与化学污染物的复合毒性效应研究的基础上,提出未来微塑料生态效应研究应重点关注我国海洋环境中微塑料的污染现状及生物摄入状况、微塑料的生物效应及其毒理学机制研究、微塑料与其他污染物的复合效应、以及微塑料在海洋生态系统中的作用及其生物地球化学行为等。     

An ecoprofile of thermoplastic protein derived from blood meal Part 2: thermoplastic processing

Purpose  

The purpose of this research was to develop a nonrenewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions ecoprofile of thermoplastic protein derived from blood meal (Novatein thermoplastic protein; NTP). This was intended for comparison with other bioplastics as well as identification of hot spots in its cradle-to-gate production. In Part 1 of this study, the effect of allocation on the blood meal used as a raw material was discussed. The objective of Part 2 was to assess the ecoprofile of the thermoplastic conversion process and to compare the cradle-to-gate portion of the polymer's life cycle to other bioplastics.     

Reviewing environmental life cycle impacts of biobased polymers: current trends and methodological challenges

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - The aim of this review is to evaluate previous life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of first- and second-generation bioplastics, to understand...     

Rational design and characterization of bioplastics from Hermetia illucens prepupae proteins

In this study proteins extracted from prepupae of Hermetia illucens, also known as black soldier fly, are investigated as promising base for a new type of bioplastics for agricultural purposes. Design of experiments techniques are employed to perform a rational study on the effects of different combination of glycerol as plasticizer, citric acid as cross-linking agent and distilled water as solvent on the capability of proteins to form a free-standing film through casting technique, keeping as fixed the quantity of proteins. Glycerol shows interesting properties as plasticizer contributing to the formation of homogenous and free-standing film. Moreover, mechanical and thermal characterizations are performed to estimate the effect of increasing amounts of proteins on the final properties and thickness of the specimens. Proteins derived from H. illucens can be successfully employed as base for bioplastics to be employed for agricultural purposes.     

Focus: Biopolymers

Cover illustration: Focus: Biopolymers. Petroplastics are usually not made for long term usage and are not biodegradable by microorganisms. This issue of BTJ highlights recent biotech on bioplastics. Edited by Guo-Qiang Chen (Tsinghua University, Beijing, China) it covers review articles and primary research on sustainable, environmentally friendly, less petroleum dependent and CO₂ reducing bioplastics for future applications. Image: Plastic silverware, Source: PhotoDisc, Inc./Getty Images.     

Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by mixed microbial cultures

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable bioplastics formed from renewable resources, like sugars, with similar characteristics of polypropylene. These bioplastics are industrially produced by pure cultures using expensive pure substrates. These factors lead to a much higher selling price of PHAs compared to petroleum-based plastics, like polypropylene. The use of mixed cultures and cheap substrates (waste materials) can reduce costs of PHA production by more than 50%. Storage of PHAs by mixed populations occurs under transient conditions mainly caused by discontinuous feeding and variation in the electron donor/acceptor presence. In the last years the mechanisms of storage, metabolism and kinetics of mixed cultures have been studied. The maximum capacity of PHA storage and production rate is dependent on the substrate and on the operating conditions used. In this paper an overview and discussion of various mechanisms and processes for PHA production by mixed cultures is presented.     

In vivo immobilization of fusion proteins on bioplastics by the novel tag BioF

A new protein immobilization and purification system has been developed based on the use of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs, or bioplastics), which are biodegradable polymers accumulated as reserve granules in the cytoplasm of certain bacteria. The N-terminal domain of the PhaF phasin (a PHA-granule-associated protein) from Pseudomonas putida GPo1 was used as a polypeptide tag (BioF) to anchor fusion proteins to PHAs. This tag provides a novel way to immobilize proteins in vivo by using bioplastics as supports. The granules carrying the BioF fusion proteins can be isolated by a simple centrifugation step and used directly for some applications. Moreover, when required, a practically pure preparation of the soluble BioF fusion protein can be obtained by a mild detergent treatment of the granule. The efficiency of this system has been demonstrated by constructing two BioF fusion products, including a functional BioF-beta-galactosidase. This is the first example of an active bioplastic consisting of a biodegradable matrix carrying an active enzyme.     

Mutation in a "tesB-like" hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A-specific thioesterase gene causes hyperproduction of extracellular polyhydroxyalkanoates by Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2

A novel mutant of the marine oil-degrading bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2, containing a mini-Tn5 transposon disrupting a "tesB-like" acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) thioesterase gene, was found to hyperproduce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), resulting in the extracellular deposition of this biotechnologically important polymer when grown on alkanes. The tesB-like gene encodes a distinct novel enzyme activity, which acts exclusively on hydroxylated acyl-CoAs and thus represents a hydroxyacyl-CoA-specific thioesterase. Inactivation of this enzyme results in the rechanneling of CoA-activated hydroxylated fatty acids, the cellular intermediates of alkane degradation, towards PHA production. These findings may open up new avenues for the development of simplified biotechnological processes for the production of PHA as a raw material for the production of bioplastics.     

Bioplastics from microorganisms

The term 'biomaterials' includes chemically unrelated products that are synthesised by microorganisms (or part of them) under different environmental conditions. One important family of biomaterials is bioplastics. These are polyesters that are widely distributed in nature and accumulate intracellularly in microorganisms in the form of storage granules, with physico-chemical properties resembling petrochemical plastics. These polymers are usually built from hydroxy-acyl-CoA derivatives via different metabolic pathways. Depending on their microbial origin, bioplastics differ in their monomer composition, macromolecular structure and physical properties. Most of them are biodegradable and biocompatible, which makes them extremely interesting from the biotechnological point of view.     

In Vivo Immobilization of Fusion Proteins on Bioplastics by the Novel Tag BioF

A new protein immobilization and purification system has been developed based on the use of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs, or bioplastics), which are biodegradable polymers accumulated as reserve granules in the cytoplasm of certain bacteria. The N-terminal domain of the PhaF phasin (a PHA-granule-associated protein) from Pseudomonas putida GPo1 was used as a polypeptide tag (BioF) to anchor fusion proteins to PHAs. This tag provides a novel way to immobilize proteins in vivo by using bioplastics as supports. The granules carrying the BioF fusion proteins can be isolated by a simple centrifugation step and used directly for some applications. Moreover, when required, a practically pure preparation of the soluble BioF fusion protein can be obtained by a mild detergent treatment of the granule. The efficiency of this system has been demonstrated by constructing two BioF fusion products, including a functional BioF-β-galactosidase. This is the first example of an active bioplastic consisting of a biodegradable matrix carrying an active enzyme.     

Methylotrophic producers of bioplastics (Review)

This paper summarizes modern views on the physiological and biochemical properties of aerobic methylobacteria as producers of bioplastics and the prospects for their use in various areas of modern biotechnology.