The degradation process of biodegradable lunch boxes?

Plastic is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. From industrial production to basic necessities of life, plastic products are everywhere. However, with plastic pollution becoming more and more serious, plastic has also become “one of the worst inventions of mankind”. In order to solve the problem of refractory degradation, various degradable plastics have come out one after another. Polylactic acid (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) are typical representatives of degradable plastics, especially PLA is the degradable material with the largest existing production capacity, with a global production capacity of 300,000 tons per year. The used PLA can be degraded into carbon dioxide and water by composting at a temperature higher than 55°C, under the action of oxygen and microorganisms, so as to realize the material cycle in nature without negative impact on the environment, but its disadvantage is degradation The conditions are relatively harsh. Therefore, how to obtain degradable plastics that can be decomposed efficiently is a hot topic among researchers.

Recently, the team of Professor Ting Xu from the University of California, Berkeley invented a new plastic synthesis process that can make these plastics more easily degradable. The hydrolytic enzyme is encapsulated by a “random heteropolymer” (RHPs) molecule and dispersed into the degradable plastic. RHPs molecules are composed of four types of monomeric subunits that interact with chemical groups on the surface of hydrolases to protect them from inactivation or premature functioning. When encountering high temperature and water, hydrolases are no longer restricted by RHPs and begin to perform hydrolysis. RHPs themselves will be degraded under the irradiation of ultraviolet rays without causing pollution.