The aim of this work was to develop a soap-based method for the isolation of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) from bacterial biomass. The method consisted of adding soap derived from waste cooking oil to a concentrated (25%) biomass suspension, heating and centrifugal separation. Purity above 95% could be achieved with soap:cell dry mass ratios at least 0.125 g/g, making the method comparable to other surfactant-based protocols. Molecular weights Mw of products from all experiments were between 350 and 450 kDa, being high enough for future material applications. Addition of hydrochloric acid to the wastewater led to the precipitation of soap and part of non-P3HB cell mass. The resulting precipitate was utilized as a carbon source in biomass production and increased substrate-to-P3HB conversion.

Faculty of Chemistry Brno University of Technology Purkynova 118 Brno Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Assessing the ecological consequences of biodegradable plastics: Acute, chronic and multigenerational impacts of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate microplastics on freshwater invertebrate Daphnia magna

Effects of biodegradable P3HB on the specific growth rate, root length and chlorophyll content of duckweed, Lemna minor

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and Polycaprolactone (PCL) Based Blends for Tissue Engineering and Bone Medical Applications Processed by FDM 3D Printing