Abstract
BackgroundThe world today is faced with the humongous challenge of removing the numerous plastic wastes in our environment. Efforts in the removal or remediation of these materials from the ecosystem are presently at the budding stage. Some researchers have shown that certain bacterial enzymes have the ability to hydrolyze and further degrade these plastic compounds. In this study, the ability of PET hydrolase enzyme to hydrolyze polyvinylchloride, polyurethane, polymethyl methacrylate, polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate, and polycarbonate was investigated in silico.ResultsThe binding affinity values of polycarbonate (− 5.7 kcal/mol) and polyethylene terephthalate (− 5.2 kcal/mol) on the enzyme targets were the highest and showed that they are likely to be efficiently hydrolyzed by this bacteria in the environment. The binding affinity of polyvinylchloride was the lowest (− 2.2 kcal/mol) and suggested that it would show resistance to hydrolysis by the PET hydrolase enzyme.ConclusionThe findings from this study showed that PET hydrolase enzyme from Ideonella sakaiensis could be efficient in the hydrolysis of plastic wastes composed mainly of polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate.
Highlights
The world today is faced with the humongous challenge of removing the numerous plastic wastes in our environment
These properties present the key problem with plastic waste being persistent in the environment and so many countries have tried to reverse the situation by banning single-use and encouraged recycling of waste plastics
Some plastic materials found in the environment include polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), expanded polystyrene (PSE), polyarylsulfone (PSU), polystyrene (PS), thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyamides (PA), fluoropolymer, etc
Summary
The world today is faced with the humongous challenge of removing the numerous plastic wastes in our environment. Some plastic materials found in the environment include polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), expanded polystyrene (PSE), polyarylsulfone (PSU), polystyrene (PS), thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyamides (PA), fluoropolymer, etc. These are thermoplastics, which are reversed by altering temperature while types such as epoxy resins, vinyl ester, polyurethane (PUR), urea–formaldehyde, acrylic resin, silicone, melamine resin, phenolic resins, phenol–formaldehyde and unsaturated polyester are thermosets and not reversed (Verla et al 2019a, b)
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