18BTP107- MINOR PROJECT

To study the Deconstruction and Depolymerization Patterns of Biodegradable polymers from

natural and synthetic sources (PLA & PBAT)Using Acids and Essential oils for Effective
Biodegradation Applications.

Name of the Guide: Dr. Richard Thilagaraj. W Name of the Student :

Designation: Associate Professor Braganya N R (RA2011009010032)
Tarun S (RA2011009010045)
Amritha Varshini S (RA2011009010048)
Kaarunya Shekar (RA2011009010066)
Aparnaa M (RA2011009010101)

Department of Biotechnology
School of Bioengineering
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
Kattankulathur
INTRODUCTION

Some acids will deconstruct or corrode plastics forming unintended products. Many essential oils (EO) have components that dissolve (or
react with) some plastics.For example, Polystyrene is easily dissolved by d-limonene in Lemon oil. Lemon oil disrupts the van der Waals
forces, causing the polystyrene chains to break apart from one another. Thus it is difficult to store both acids and essential oils in plastic
containers.
Essential oils like Lemon oil and Tea tree oil have high amount of terpenes which are highly reactive .

Lemon oil PLA- Poly Lactic Acid

Tea Tree Oil PBAT(Poly (Butylene Adipate-Co-Terephthalate)

Kareem PA,et al
LITERATURE REVIEW
S.NO TITLE AUTHOR/JOURNAL OBSERVATIONS

1 An Investigation of Poly(lactic acid) Xichen Zhang et al. Initial degradation of purified polymer was very slow
Degradation (1994) before accelerating.

2 Depolymerization and De-N- Aslak Einbu The rate of the acid-catalyzed cleavage of the glycosidic
acetylation of Chitin Oligomers in et al linkage of the dimer was determined as a function of
Hydrochloric Acid (2007) hydrochloric acid concentration, showing a 6-fold
increase from 3 to 6M HCl concentration and a further
6-fold increase from 6 to 12M HCl concentration.

3 Post Consumer Pet Depolymerization Sandro Donnini Mancini et On usage of 7.5M sulphuric acid it was observed that
by Acid Hydrolysis (2007) al. hydrolysis occurred preferentially at the chain ends of
PET

4 Antimicrobial nanocomposite films Stephane Salmieri et al. Addition of oregano EO reduced PLA-CNC tensile
made of poly(lactic acid)–cellulose strength (TS) and tensile modulus (TM)
nanocrystals (PLA–CNC) in food
applications(2014)
LITERATURE REVIEW
S.NO TITLE AUTHOR/JOURNAL OBSERVATIONS

5 Active Packaging Using de Andrade MF et al Elastic modulus and Specific deformation decreased with
Orange Oil Incorporated increasing oil content
into PBAT Biodegradable
Films (2018)

6 Biodegradation Behavior of Ye fu et al The biodegradation rate of PLA under soil condition and water
PBAT, PLA, and Their condition is relatively slow. Different from PLA, PBAT is an
Blend in Freshwater with aliphatic–aromatic biodegradable polyester produced from fossil
Sediment sources. The aromatic fraction provides excellent physical
properties, whereas aliphatic chains promote its degradation.

8 Anti- and Pro-Oxidant Kong, A.S.-Y et al EOs and their constituents that hold pro-oxidant properties can
Properties of Essential Oils induce oxidative stress by producing ROS, leading to biological
against Antimicrobial damage in target cells.
Resistance (2022)

9 Fungal Screening for Lusiane Malafatti-Piccaet al. Biodegradation was also confirmed using mass variation analyses
SEM that showed evidence of material roughness, FTIR analysis
Potential PET
that showed band modification
Depolymerization (2023)
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

● In the presence of acids/essential oils (solvents) the ketone bonds present in the polymers (here PLA & PBAT) might be oxidised/reduced
by the functional groups of the solvents and form carboxylic acids/aldehydes/alcohols.
● Occurrence of structural changes due to the cleavage of bonds in the polymers by the solvents. For example, conversion of aromatic ring
structure to aliphatic chain; polymer to monomeric units.

OBJECTIVE

● The purpose of this study is to understand the patterns of deconstruction & degradation of polymers as well as reverse engineering these
processes using acids and essential oils.

● To compare the effect of acids and essential oils on polymers for better management applications.

.
WORKFLOW
METHODOLOGY
METHODOLOGY
Acid And Oil Sample Strength
3.5M 5.5M 7.5M 3.5M 5.5M 7.5M
Concentration
PLA PLA PLA PBAT PBAT PBAT
Acid

HCL 1 1 1 1 1 1

H2SO4 1 1 1 1 1 1

HNO3 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total 3 3 3 3 3 3 18

OIL TTO LO

POLYMER

PLA 1 1

PBAT 1 1

TOTAL 2 2 4
METHODOLOGY

S.NO ANALYSIS NO.OF SAMPLES DAYS ANALYZED

1 FTIR 77 D - 0,14,28,42

2 SEM 41 D - 0,14,28,42

3 NANOINDENTATION 20 D - 0,21,42

FTIR - PLA and PBAT beads incubated acid and oil samples were analyzed

SEM - PLA polymer beads incubated in acid solvents were analyzed

- PLA and PBAT beads incubated in oil solvents were analyzed

NANOINDENTATION - PLA and PBAT beads incubated in oil samples were analyzed
RESULTS (FTIR ACIDS)

PBAT HNO3 PBAT H2SO4

PBAT HCl

PLA HCL PLA HNO3 PLA H2SO4

RESULTS (FTIR OIL)

PBAT TTO
PLA TTO

PBAT LO PLA LO
 RESULTS - SEM

SEM analysis of PLA bead SEM analysis of PLA bead SEM analysis of PLA bead SEM analysis of PLA
incubated in LO after 42 days incubated in 3.5m HCl after 42 incubated in 7.5M H2SO4 after 42 bead incubated in 7.5M
days days HNO3 after 42 days
RESULTS (Nanoindentation)

HARDNESS ELASTICITY
POLYMER MAX DEPTH(nm) LOAD(Mn) (GPa) (GPa) STIFFNESS (N/m)

CONTROL PLA 655.9991 5.005487 0.4099653 7.127834 27929.85

PLA-LO-D42 589.6973 5.008946 0.5021603 8.513827 30117.32
PLA-TTO-D42 594.0291 5.000429 0.4002634 13.63804 53752.45

CONTROL PBAT 1713.033 4.953251 0.08310507 0.9149612 7964.205

PBAT-LO-D42 3215.782 3.805671 0.02748895 0.1773011 2353.618
PBAT-TO-D42 4894.88 4.573052 0.01184588 0.07255168 2144.204
RESEARCH OUTCOME

PUBLICATION DETAILS

Kaarunya Shekar., Aparnaa M., Amritha Varshini S., Tarun S., Braganya N R., Richard Thilagaraj W .(2024) “To study the
Deconstruction and Depolymerization Patterns of Biodegradable polymers from natural and synthetic sources (PLA & PBAT) Using
Acids and Essential oils for Effective Biodegradation Applications.”, Journal of Functional Biomaterials.

(Ongoing)
REFERENCES

1) Rehana Akhter, F.A. Masoodi, Touseef Ahmed Wani, Sajad Ahmad Rather. Functional characterization of biopolymer
based composite film: Incorporation of natural essential oils and antimicrobial agents. International Journal of Biological
Macromolecules, Volume 137, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.06.214.

2) Vaid, R.; Yildirim, E.; Pasquinelli, M.A.; King, M.W. Hydrolytic Degradation of Polylactic Acid Fibers as a Function of
pH and Exposure Time. Molecules 2021, 26, 7554. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26247554

3) Sandro Donnini Mancini, Maria Zanin. Post Consumer Pet Depolymerization by Acid Hydrolysis.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03602550601152945

4) Aslak Einbu, Kjell M. Vårum. Depolymerization and De-N-acetylation of Chitin Oligomers in Hydrochloric Acid.
Biomacromolecules 2007, 8, 1, 309–314. https://doi.org/10.1021/bm0608535

5) Sabiha Mehmood, Noshin Ilyas, Nosheen Akhtar,Wen Yi Chia,Ali A. Shati,Mohammad Y. Alfaifi,R.Z. Sayyed,Yustina M.
Pusparizkita,Heli Siti Halimatul Munawaroh,Pham Minh Quan,Pau Loke Show. Structural breakdown and phytotoxic
assessments of PE degradation through acid hydrolysis, starch addition and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bioremediation.
Environmental Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114784
THANK YOU