Biological Valorization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Monomers for Upcycling Waste PET

Hee Taek Kim; Jae Kyun Kim; Hyun Gil Cha; Myung Jong Kang; Hyun Sook Lee; Tae Uk Khang; Eun Ju Yun; Dae Hee Lee; Bong Keun Song; Si Jae Park; Jeong Chan Joo; Kyoung Heon Kim

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03908

Biological Valorization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Monomers for Upcycling Waste PET

Hee Taek Kim, Jae Kyun Kim, Hyun Gil Cha, Myung Jong Kang, Hyun Sook Lee, Tae Uk Khang, Eun Ju Yun, Dae Hee Lee, Bong Keun Song, Si Jae Park, Jeong Chan Joo, Kyoung Heon Kim

Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

165 Scopus citations

Abstract

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), composed of terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), is the most commonly produced polyester. Unrecycled PET waste causes serious environmental problems. To increase the PET recycling rate, the upcycling of PET into products that are higher value than PET is desired. In this study, the feasibility of biological valorization of PET for its upcycling was experimentally evaluated. Among the two monomers obtained from the chemical hydrolysis of PET, TPA was biologically converted to five different aromatics and aromatic-derived compounds by using whole-cell catalysts comprising Escherichia coli engineered to express necessary metabolic enzymes for biosynthetic routes for converting TPA. These five higher-value products from TPA, gallic acid, pyrogallol, catechol, muconic acid, and vanillic acid were synthesized via protocatechuic acid as the key intermediate at relatively high molar conversion yields, 32.7-92.5%. The other monomer from PET, EG, was fermented to glycolic acid, a cosmetic ingredient. This is the first experimental validation of producing various higher-value chemicals from PET monomers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	19396-19406
Number of pages	11
Journal	ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Volume	7
Issue number	24
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03908
State	Published - 16 Dec 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.

Keywords

Plastic recycling
Poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Terephthalic acid
Upcycling
Valorization

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10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b03908

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title = "Biological Valorization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Monomers for Upcycling Waste PET",

abstract = "Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), composed of terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), is the most commonly produced polyester. Unrecycled PET waste causes serious environmental problems. To increase the PET recycling rate, the upcycling of PET into products that are higher value than PET is desired. In this study, the feasibility of biological valorization of PET for its upcycling was experimentally evaluated. Among the two monomers obtained from the chemical hydrolysis of PET, TPA was biologically converted to five different aromatics and aromatic-derived compounds by using whole-cell catalysts comprising Escherichia coli engineered to express necessary metabolic enzymes for biosynthetic routes for converting TPA. These five higher-value products from TPA, gallic acid, pyrogallol, catechol, muconic acid, and vanillic acid were synthesized via protocatechuic acid as the key intermediate at relatively high molar conversion yields, 32.7-92.5%. The other monomer from PET, EG, was fermented to glycolic acid, a cosmetic ingredient. This is the first experimental validation of producing various higher-value chemicals from PET monomers.",

keywords = "Plastic recycling, Poly(ethylene terephthalate), Terephthalic acid, Upcycling, Valorization",

author = "Kim, {Hee Taek} and Kim, {Jae Kyun} and Cha, {Hyun Gil} and Kang, {Myung Jong} and Lee, {Hyun Sook} and Khang, {Tae Uk} and Yun, {Eun Ju} and Lee, {Dae Hee} and Song, {Bong Keun} and Park, {Si Jae} and Joo, {Jeong Chan} and Kim, {Kyoung Heon}",

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AU - Kim, Jae Kyun

AU - Cha, Hyun Gil

AU - Kang, Myung Jong

AU - Lee, Hyun Sook

AU - Khang, Tae Uk

AU - Yun, Eun Ju

AU - Lee, Dae Hee

AU - Song, Bong Keun

AU - Park, Si Jae

AU - Joo, Jeong Chan

AU - Kim, Kyoung Heon

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N2 - Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), composed of terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), is the most commonly produced polyester. Unrecycled PET waste causes serious environmental problems. To increase the PET recycling rate, the upcycling of PET into products that are higher value than PET is desired. In this study, the feasibility of biological valorization of PET for its upcycling was experimentally evaluated. Among the two monomers obtained from the chemical hydrolysis of PET, TPA was biologically converted to five different aromatics and aromatic-derived compounds by using whole-cell catalysts comprising Escherichia coli engineered to express necessary metabolic enzymes for biosynthetic routes for converting TPA. These five higher-value products from TPA, gallic acid, pyrogallol, catechol, muconic acid, and vanillic acid were synthesized via protocatechuic acid as the key intermediate at relatively high molar conversion yields, 32.7-92.5%. The other monomer from PET, EG, was fermented to glycolic acid, a cosmetic ingredient. This is the first experimental validation of producing various higher-value chemicals from PET monomers.

AB - Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), composed of terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), is the most commonly produced polyester. Unrecycled PET waste causes serious environmental problems. To increase the PET recycling rate, the upcycling of PET into products that are higher value than PET is desired. In this study, the feasibility of biological valorization of PET for its upcycling was experimentally evaluated. Among the two monomers obtained from the chemical hydrolysis of PET, TPA was biologically converted to five different aromatics and aromatic-derived compounds by using whole-cell catalysts comprising Escherichia coli engineered to express necessary metabolic enzymes for biosynthetic routes for converting TPA. These five higher-value products from TPA, gallic acid, pyrogallol, catechol, muconic acid, and vanillic acid were synthesized via protocatechuic acid as the key intermediate at relatively high molar conversion yields, 32.7-92.5%. The other monomer from PET, EG, was fermented to glycolic acid, a cosmetic ingredient. This is the first experimental validation of producing various higher-value chemicals from PET monomers.

KW - Plastic recycling

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KW - Terephthalic acid

KW - Upcycling

KW - Valorization

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Biological Valorization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Monomers for Upcycling Waste PET

Abstract

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Keywords

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