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Single-cell Protein Bioplastic Films from Recovered Nitrogen and Carbon with High Anaerobic Biodegradability and Biogas Potential at End-of-Life
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH), Fibre- and Polymer Technology, Polymeric Materials.ORCID iD: 0009-0005-3309-4255
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, Naples 80125, Italy.
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH), Fibre- and Polymer Technology, Polymeric Materials.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8476-4558
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH), Fibre- and Polymer Technology.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4583-723x
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2024 (English)In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, E-ISSN 2168-0485, Vol. 12, no 42, p. 15603-15612Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The majority of plastics used today are produced from nonrenewable resources, and, depending on the end-of-life management, they may end up in landfills or in nature, giving rise to microplastic pollution. A potential way of minimizing this is to use proteins, preferentially recovered from organic waste and residues, to make plastics. In line with this, we explored here the potential of protein-based bioplastics sourced from single-cell protein (SCP). Films of glycerol-plasticized SCPs (grown by recovering carbon from cheese whey and nitrogen from anaerobic digestate) were produced by compression molding. Electron microscopy revealed a structure of intact cells and the presence of cracks/voids, and the mechanical properties indicated a rather poor cohesion between the cells, despite the high-temperature treatment in the pressing stage. The resulting structure yielded a material that could absorb a sizable amount of both nonpolar (rapid capillary uptake) and polar liquids. The anaerobic biodegradation of the SCP films demonstrated that full biodegradability (100%) and high specific biomethane productions (471 ± 8 mL/gram of volatile solids) could be attained within operating conditions that are typical of anaerobic digestion processes in the treatment of food waste. Overall, this study highlights the potential and also the challenge of using SCP as an alternative bioplastic material in food packaging and edible coatings.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS) , 2024. Vol. 12, no 42, p. 15603-15612
Keywords [en]
biodegradation, bioplastic, biopolymer, single cell protein, waste to resource
National Category
Polymer Technologies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-366363DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c05739ISI: 001335810600001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85206433262OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-366363DiVA, id: diva2:1982059
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QC 20250707

Available from: 2025-07-07 Created: 2025-07-07 Last updated: 2025-07-07Bibliographically approved

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Bjurström, AntonLiu, SiruiSvagan, Anna JustinaHedenqvist, Mikael S.

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Bjurström, AntonLiu, SiruiSvagan, Anna JustinaHedenqvist, Mikael S.
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Polymeric MaterialsFibre- and Polymer Technology
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