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Cost‐Effective Recovery and Purification of Polyhydroxyalkanoates by Selective Dissolution of Cell Mass
Author(s) -
Yu Jian,
Chen Lilian X. L.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
biotechnology progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.572
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6033
pISSN - 8756-7938
DOI - 10.1021/bp050362g
Subject(s) - polyhydroxyalkanoates , dissolution , environmentally friendly , chemistry , aqueous solution , yield (engineering) , bioplastic , crystallization , chemical engineering , chromatography , materials science , pulp and paper industry , organic chemistry , waste management , bacteria , ecology , genetics , engineering , metallurgy , biology
Abstract Highly efficient separation and purification of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from PHA‐containing cell mass is essential to production of the bioplastics from renewable resources in a cost‐effective, environmentally friendly way. Based on selective dissolution of non‐PHA cell mass (NPCM) by protons in aqueous solution and crystallization kinetics of PHA biopolymers, a simple process is developed and demonstrated to recover PHAs from cell mass to high purity (>97 wt %) with high yield (>95 wt %). The average molecular weight of biopolyesters is controlled, which follows an exponential function of process severity, a combined factor of processing conditions. Compared with conventional chemical treatment such as sequential surfactant and hypochlorite treatment, this new technology substantially reduces the chemical cost for PHA recovery and purification from PHA‐containing cell mass.