ISSN 1995-5537
«Біотехнологія» journal V. 5, No. 5, 2012
Р. 54-64, Bibliography 62, English.
Universal Decimal classification: 602.6:582.28
EFFECTIVE DEGRADATION OF POLYVINYL
ALCOHOL BY COMBINED CHEMICAL
AND MICROBIAL PROCESSES
D. M. Larking, N. Mitik-Dineva, E. P. Ivanova, G. T. Lonergan, R. J. Crawford
Environment and Biotechnology Centre, Faculty of Life & Social Sciences
Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Chemical pre-treatment of polyvinyl alcohol with Fenton’s reagent has been performed in solution prior to inoculation with the white-rot fungus Pycnoporus cinnabarinus CBS 101046, which resulted in the degradation of the polyvinyl alcohol. Overall, more than 65% of the polyvinyl alcohol was found to have degraded after the 30 days of combined chemical and biological treatment. A range of low molar mass breakdown products were formed as a result of the initial Fenton’s reagent treatment of the polyvinyl alcohol, and these were identified as carboxylic acids, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes and carbon dioxide. The concentration of each of these breakdown products was measured over the 30-day incubation period in the presence of the fungus and the remaining polyvinyl alcohol. It was found that each of these products decreased in concentration during the experiment, suggesting that they were utilized as a carbon source by the fungus. It was also observed that other low molar mass species, i.e., propanoic acid, propanol and pentanone, which were not present immediately after the initial Fenton’s reagent treatment, were formed over the incubation period with fungi.
Key words: polyvinyl alcohol, Fenton’s reagent, Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, fungal degradation, breakdown products.
© Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 2008