Journal
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
Volume 32, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202109366
Keywords
bioproduction; bioremediation; chelation; melanin; polymer additive; redox; Yarrowia lipolytica
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Funding
- ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company [EM10480/UTA18-000455]
- University of Texas at Austin [EM10480/UTA18-000455]
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Research has shown that pyomelanin can serve as a biosourced material with excellent properties such as electron transport and ultraviolet light absorption, as well as superior performance in various applications. By metabolically engineering a strain of Yarrowia lipolytica, pyomelanin can be produced for use in areas such as polymer plasticization, demonstrating performance on par with or better than chemically sourced analogs.
Melanin-like compounds have been studied in recent years for their electron transport and ultraviolet (UV) light absorbance properties as well as applications as functional, biocompatible catalysts, and material additives. Pyomelanin is a unique form of melanin compounds that has not received significant attention. Here, a strain of Yarrowia lipolytica suitable for the production of nearly 2.8 g L-1 of homogentisic acid (HGA) is metabolically engineered, which can then be oxidized to form pyomelanin either in situ or through altering pH. By using this biosourced material, a series of material traits including spectral analysis/UV-vis absorbance properties, electronic and metal interaction/chelation properties, and effectiveness in polymer dispersions with poly(l-lactide) are evaluated. In all cases, biosourced pyomelanin performs on par with or better than a chemically sourced analog. In a performance application, it is explored how pyomelanin may be blended at low concentrations to increase the elasticity of a rigid commercial polymer. Collectively, this work establishes biosourced pyomelanin as a versatile compound for unique material applications.
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