A group of scientists from Texas A&M have developed a system that uses carbon dioxide to make bioplastics, which could replace non-degradable plastic. The research addresses the problem of non-degradable plastic and the issue of greenhouse gas emissions.
Susie Dai, an associate professor in the Texas A&M Department of Plant Pathology and Microbial, and Joshua Yuan, an assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Plant Pathology and Microbial, collaborated on a research project.
Bioplastics are created.
Dai said that today's plastic doesn't degrade easily and creates a huge issue in the oceans.
To address these issues, the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences researchers and their teams worked for almost two years to develop an integrated system that uses CO 2 as a feed forbacteria to grow and produce bioplastics. Kainan Chen, a graduate student in Texas A&M's Department of Plant Pathology and Microbial, contributed to the work. The Texas A&M University System has applied for a patent.
Dai said that carbon dioxide has been used in concert withbacteria to produce many chemicals, but this design produces a highly efficient, smooth flow through our carbon dioxide -to-bioplastics pipeline.
Dai said it is like a train with units connected to each other. The first unit uses electricity to convert carbon dioxide to alcohol. The bioplastics that are harder to degrade are different from the petroleum-based ones and can be produced with the help of the bacterium.
CO 2 waste can be captured and re-used.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be done by using CO 2 in the process. CO 2 is a waste product.
If we can capture the waste carbon dioxide, we can use it to make something. The platform has the potential to address the challenges of sustainable living.
The new platform has a faster reaction rate than previous ones.
The platform is being expanded to include fuels, commodity chemicals and diverse materials. The study showed a plan for decarbonized biomanufacturing that could change the manufacturing sector.
Future impacts are expanding.
The price of bioplastics is more expensive than the price of petroleum-based plastic. If the technology is successful, industries could replace traditional plastic products with ones that have less negative environmental impacts. It would be a benefit to mitigate CO 2 emissions from energy sectors.
Dai said that the innovation opens the door for new products if the bacterium is engineered to consume carbon dioxide-derived molecule. One of the advantages of this design is the fact that thebacteria can grow in a variety of environments.
More information: Peng Zhang et al, Chem-Bio interface design for rapid conversion of CO2 to bioplastics in an integrated system, Chem (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2022.09.005 Journal information: Chem
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