abstract
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have a wide range of applicability due to their biodegradable and biocompatible characteristics. This makes them suitable for commercialization as an alternative to petroleum-based synthetic plastics. Solvents such as chloroform are reported to solubilize polyhydroxyalkanoates. With chloroform being hazardous for both health and the environment, this work attempts to replace this chlorinated solvent with green solvents like ionic liquids. In this study, poly-[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (PHB) was extracted from Halomonas hydrothermalis, and its solubility, stability, and film-forming ability were investigated in the presence of ammonium-based ionic liquids (Its). Among the studied ILs, maximum solubility (3% w/v at 70 degrees C) along with chemical and structural stability of the polymer was observed in diethanol ammonium acetate (DA), while the lowest dissolution (0.4% w/v) was exhibited in 2-hydroxyethylammonium formate (HF). The molecular docking studies have established a critical role of the anions of the ILs in the dissolution process. Further, PHB dissolved in DA formed a film in the presence of gelatin (G). The recovered ILs were found to be soil compatible, and due to their high nitrogen content, they can be used as a fortifier for nitrogen-deficient seaweed-based liquid plant biostimulants making them suitable soil nutrients for agriculture applications.
keywords
IONIC LIQUID; SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID; POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES; SOLUBILITY; EXTRACTION; CELLULOSE; PHB; RECOVERY; CELLS; ACID
subject category
Chemistry; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Engineering
authors
Sequeira, RA; Dubey, S; Pereira, MM; Maity, TK; Singh, S; Mishra, S; Prasad, K
our authors
Matheus M. Pereira
Researcheracknowledgements
K.P. thanks CSIR, New Delhi for financial support. R.S. thanks DST for DST-INSPIRE Fellowship. S.D. thanks CSIR, New Delhi for the Research Associateship. Analytical Discipline and Centralized Instrumental facilities of the institute are acknowledged for providing instrumentation facilities. Dr. Pramod Shinde is acknowledged for crucial discussion on the microbiology related studies. This is communication No. CSIR-CSMCRI-113/2020.