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METHODS OF POLY-3-HYDROXYBUTYRATE EXTRACTION AND THEIR OPTIMIZATION
Pospíšilová, Aneta ; Plachá,, Daniela (oponent) ; Kowalczuk, Marek (oponent) ; Přikryl, Radek (vedoucí práce)
Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastic polymer with a wide range of potential applications. The production of PHB typically involves the fermentation of renewable feedstocks by bacteria. However, the recovery of PHB from bacteria is often challenging and inefficient. In this study, different methods for PHB recovery, including digestion, mechanical disruption, and extraction, are reviewed and compared. Various optimization strategies that can be used to improve the efficiency of PHB recovery are discussed. The experimental and results section describe efforts to improve recovery methods, especially acid and soap-based digestion, which have been selected as potentially economical, safe and environmentally friendly. Together with our industrial partners, we have developed these technologies to a pilot-plant scale and further development is planned. Possible applications and commercializations of PHB were also addressed. It has been found that PHB can replace some microplastics in cosmetics and that this effort has potential, as the presence of microplastics in common products is still high and their phase out is planned at European Union level. Furthermore, the thermal stability of PHB depending on the recovery method was studied, and two stabilization methods were developed, which made it possible to use PHB obtained by the soap-based digestion in material applications.
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