Open AccessSynergistic chemo‐enzymatic hydrolysis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) from textile waste
Author(s) -
Quartinello Felice,
Vajnhandl Simona,
Volmajer Valh Julija,
Farmer Thomas J.,
Vončina Bojana,
Lobnik Alexandra,
Herrero Acero Enrique,
Pellis Alessandro,
Guebitz Georg M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
microbial biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.287
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 1751-7915
DOI - 10.1111/1751-7915.12734
Subject(s) - terephthalic acid , hydrolysis , polyester , cutinase , monomer , ethylene glycol , ethylene , enzymatic hydrolysis , chemistry , materials science , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , organic chemistry , poly ethylene , chemical engineering , catalysis , polymer , engineering
Summary Due to the rising global environment protection awareness, recycling strategies that comply with the circular economy principles are needed. Polyesters are among the most used materials in the textile industry; therefore, achieving a complete poly(ethylene terephthalate) ( PET ) hydrolysis in an environmentally friendly way is a current challenge. In this work, a chemo‐enzymatic treatment was developed to recover the PET building blocks, namely terephthalic acid ( TA ) and ethylene glycol. To monitor the monomer and oligomer content in solid samples, a Fourier‐transformed Raman method was successfully developed. A shift of the free carboxylic groups (1632 cm −1 ) of TA into the deprotonated state (1604 and 1398 cm −1 ) was observed and bands at 1728 and 1398 cm −1 were used to assess purity of TA after the chemo‐enzymatic PET hydrolysis. The chemical treatment, performed under neutral conditions (T = 250 °C, P = 40 bar), led to conversion of PET into 85% TA and small oligomers. The latter were hydrolysed in a second step using the Humicola insolens cutinase (HiC) yielding 97% pure TA , therefore comparable with the commercial synthesis‐grade TA (98%).