Journal
PREPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY & BIOTECHNOLOGY
Volume 46, Issue 2, Pages 109-115Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/10826068.2014.985836
Keywords
Biofilm; CLSM; FTIR; P. azotoformans; polypropylene; TGA
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This study investigated biodegradation of physically pretreated polypropylene (PP) by using two different combinations of microorganisms, namely, Bacillus flexus+Pseudomonas azotoformans(B1) and B. flexus+B. subtilis(B2), for a period of 12 months. The growth rate of (B1) was found to be high throughout the study period, and reached a maximum of 1x10(14) colony-forming units (CFU)/mL. At the end of the experiment, the polymers become hydrophilic. Carbonyl indices showed that ultraviolet (UV)-treated polymers started degrading faster than the thermally treated PP. The thermogravimetric analysis also revealed that UV-treated PP exposed to the B. flexus+P. azotoformans combination for 1 year exhibited maximum degradation (22.7%). The gravimetric weight loss method showed 1.95% weight loss followed by 1.45% with B. flexus+B. subtilis. The changes in the carbonyl indices of the polymer through Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis also support the degradation.
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