Flipping the mattress: infinite polyurethane recycling by synthetic biology

翻转床垫：合成生物学无限循环利用聚氨酯

• 批准号: LP220200834
• 负责人: A/Prof Amy Cain
• 金额: $ 46.52万
• 依托单位: Macquarie University
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: Linkage Projects
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2023-07-01 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/RGS/Web/Grants/LP220200834
• 关键词: Flipping; mattress; infinite; polyurethane; recycling

Australia is covered in billions of tonnes of plastic and yet <10% is recycled today. Polyurethane (PU) is ubiquitous in our everyday lives, from lacquer coatings to elastane clothing to durable foam padding in car seats, cushions and mattresses. Currently, there are few avenues for PU recycling and much ends up in landfill e.g., a single mattress produces 15-20kg of PU foam waste. Luckily, biodegradation of PU can occur naturally via various microbial means and from insects, like Galleria mellonella larvae. The overall aim of this research project is to understand plastic biodegradation and translate nature’s solutions into flexible and efficient synthetic enzyme technologies that can sustainably recycle commonly used PU foams.

澳大利亚被数十亿吨塑料覆盖，但今天只有不到10%的塑料被回收利用。聚氨酯（PU）在我们的日常生活中无处不在，从油漆涂层到弹性纤维服装，再到汽车座椅、靠垫和床垫中的耐用泡沫填充物。目前，PU回收的途径很少，很多最终都是垃圾填埋，例如，单个床垫产生15- 20 kg PU泡沫废料。幸运的是，PU的生物降解可以通过各种微生物手段和昆虫（如Galleria mellonella幼虫）自然发生。该研究项目的总体目标是了解塑料的生物降解，并将大自然的解决方案转化为灵活有效的合成酶技术，从而可持续地回收常用的PU泡沫。