KES9-0095
Development of High-performance Biodegradable Biomass Plastics and their Marine Biodegradability
Topic
S9. Polymer Technology for Sustainability
When and Where
Sep 29, 2026
10:50 - 11:15
Room 313
Session Chairs
Jeung Gon KIM
Presenter(s)
Tadahisa Iwata (The University of Tokyo)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
To establish a sustainable material production system and preserve the beautiful global environment forever, it is desirable to develop “biomass plastics” that are made from renewable biomass instead of petroleum, and “biodegradable plastics” that are completely degraded into carbon dioxide and water by enzymes secreted by microorganisms in the environment.
This paper presents a series of studies on microbial polyesters and polysaccharide ester derivatives, including the synthesis of novel polymers, development of new processing techniques for high-performance films and fibers, elucidation of the relationship between structure and properties using synchrotron radiation, control of the rate of enzymatic degradation and environmental degradation. Furthermore, development of biodegradation initiation switch and self-degradable aliphatic polyesters in sea-water environment by embedding lipases via melt extrusion will be presented.
More recently, we succeeded to confirm microbial decomposition of representative biodegradable plastics (polyhydroxyalkanoates, biodegradable polyesters, and polysaccharide esters) at diverse deep-sea floor locations ranging in depth from 757 to 5552 m. The rate of degradation slowed with water depth. We analyzed the plastic-associated microbial communities by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomics. Several dominant microorganisms carried genes potentially encoding plastic-degrading enzymes such as polyhydroxyalkanoate depolymerases and cutinases/polyesterases.
This paper presents a series of studies on microbial polyesters and polysaccharide ester derivatives, including the synthesis of novel polymers, development of new processing techniques for high-performance films and fibers, elucidation of the relationship between structure and properties using synchrotron radiation, control of the rate of enzymatic degradation and environmental degradation. Furthermore, development of biodegradation initiation switch and self-degradable aliphatic polyesters in sea-water environment by embedding lipases via melt extrusion will be presented.
More recently, we succeeded to confirm microbial decomposition of representative biodegradable plastics (polyhydroxyalkanoates, biodegradable polyesters, and polysaccharide esters) at diverse deep-sea floor locations ranging in depth from 757 to 5552 m. The rate of degradation slowed with water depth. We analyzed the plastic-associated microbial communities by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomics. Several dominant microorganisms carried genes potentially encoding plastic-degrading enzymes such as polyhydroxyalkanoate depolymerases and cutinases/polyesterases.
