EFRI E3P: Program plastic lifecycle by rationally design enzyme-containing plastics

EFRI E3P：通过合理设计含酶塑料来规划塑料生命周期

• 批准号: 2132025
• 负责人: Ting Xu
• 金额: $ 200万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2132025&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EFRI; E3P; Program; plastic; lifecycle

This project targets embedding active enzymes during plastic manufacturing, and programming on-demand plastic degradation or modification during product fabrication, storage, and use. The project's hypotheses are that (1) molecular control of biocatalysis within polymeric matrices can afford on-demand modification or programmable plastic degradation during manufacture, use, and disposal, and (2) with recent advances in synthetic biology and nanomaterial engineering, it is feasible to develop economically viable enzyme-embedded plastics to achieve valorization or degradation of end-of-life plastic waste. The interdisciplinary project team seeks to develop compostable single-use plastic based on polymers with chemically labile backbones and valorization of polyolefins by C-H bond oxidation. The team intends to (1) develop approaches to manufacturing these materials at large scale using melt extrusion, (2) test properties of prototypes, and (3) evaluate the environmental impact of the prototypes with local ecology centers. By engineering compostable plastics that are stable under conditions relevant to storage and use but degrade in a matter of days under composting conditions, this project seeks to provide basic knowledge of important relevance to the compostable single-use plastics industry. The intended outcome of the research would reduce the volume of single-use plastic packaging sent to landfills and reduce mechanical separation costs at organics processing and composting facilities. The research plan is to (1) develop molecular understanding in biocatalysis of enzymes nanoscopically dispersed in semi- crystalline polyesters with focus on enzyme stability, catalytic mechanism, and kinetics to realize programmable degradation, (2) develop molecular understanding in biocatalysis in oxidase-containing polyolefins and design catalytic cascades to chemically modify sidechains of polyolefins for valorization and accelerated degradation, and (3) fabricate minimum viable prototypes, optimize the system for relevant commercial performance as single-use plastics, validate the material properties and performance using ASTM testing methodology, and perform technoeconomic analysis and evaluate prototype life cycle. It is anticipated that the work will provide significant insights in the emerging fields of solid-state enzymology and enzyme-containing functional materials. The project team also plans a three-tiered approach aimed at improving undergraduate education in the area of polymer science, developing a polymer degradation kit for students and public demonstrations, and creating course modules to specifically highlight polymer recycling, upgrading, and enzymatic degradation. This award is co-funded by the directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, specifically the Polymers Program in the Division of Materials Research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目的目标是在塑料制造过程中嵌入活性酶，并在产品制造、储存和使用过程中按需编程塑料降解或改性。该项目的假设是：(1)聚合物基质内生物催化的分子控制可以在制造、使用和处置过程中提供按需改性或可编程塑料降解；(2)随着合成生物学和纳米材料工程的最新进展，开发经济上可行的酶嵌入塑料以实现增值或降解废弃塑料是可行的。跨学科项目团队寻求开发可堆肥的一次性塑料，该塑料基于具有化学不稳定骨架的聚合物，并通过C-H键氧化使聚烯烃增值。该团队打算(1)开发使用熔融挤压大规模制造这些材料的方法，(2)测试原型的性能，(3)与当地生态中心评估原型对环境的影响。通过设计在储存和使用相关条件下稳定但在堆肥条件下在几天内降解的可堆肥塑料，该项目旨在提供与可堆肥一次性塑料工业重要相关的基本知识。这项研究的预期结果将减少送往垃圾填埋场的一次性塑料包装的数量，并降低有机加工和堆肥设施的机械分离成本。研究计划是：(1)发展对纳米级分散在半晶聚酯中的酶的生物催化的分子认识，重点研究酶的稳定性、催化机理和动力学，以实现可编程降解；(2)发展对含氧化酶聚烯烃生物催化的分子认识，设计催化级联，对聚烯烃侧链进行化学修饰，以实现增殖和加速降解。(3)制造最小可行原型，优化系统的相关商业性能作为一次性塑料，验证材料的特性和性能使用ASTM测试方法，并进行技术经济分析和评估原型的生命周期。预计这项工作将为固态酶学和含酶功能材料的新兴领域提供重要的见解。项目团队还计划采用三层方法，旨在提高聚合物科学领域的本科教育水平，为学生和公众演示开发聚合物降解工具包，并创建课程模块，特别强调聚合物回收、升级和酶降解。该奖项是由数学和物理科学理事会，特别是材料研究部的聚合物项目共同资助的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。