New process makes' biodegradable 'plastics truly compostable! (3)

The authors show that higher temperatures cause the encased enzyme to move more, allowing it to find the end of the polymer chain more quickly, break it down, and then move on to the next chain. RHP-coated enzymes also tend to bind near the end of the polymer chain, keeping the enzyme near their target. The findings provide new insights into the embedding of active biomolecules into solid materials, which could have profound implications for future biodegradable markets, including sensing, purification and self-healing materials. Synthetic biology and biodegradable plastics have a promising future. Enzyme-embedded biocatalysis can control the reaction pathway, kinetics, incubation period and high-value by-products, thus influencing the degradable process. These results are crucial for the improvement and remediation of environmental pollution in the future.

About Professor Xu Ting:

Professor Xu Ting is a Class 92 alumnus of Dalian University of Technology, majoring in Polymer Chemical Engineering. She is an outstanding Chinese scientist. In 2009, she was named as one of the top 10 young talents in the United States who have shaken the scientific community. Professor Ting Xu is mainly engaged in the design, synthesis and characterization of de novo peptides and polymers. He has published many papers in ACS Nano, Advanced Materials, PNAS, Nano Letters, Nature Communications, Nature Materials, Science and other academic journals.

Group homepage: http://www.mse.berkeley.edu/groups/xu/index.html