Research
New approach boosts plastic-eating enzyme's activity nearly tenfold
Phys.org ·
The Brief
- Researchers from King's College London and Rutgers University created a modified enzyme that breaks down PET plastic about 10 times faster.
- The modified enzyme works with about 10 times less enzyme than the original.
- The source article is truncated, so further details of the method are not available here.
Why it matters
Faster and cheaper enzymatic breakdown of PET could make enzyme-based plastic recycling more practical, though the source reports laboratory-scale results only.
Who’s affected
- researchers in enzyme engineering and plastic recycling
- chemists and materials scientists working on polymers
- #enzymes
- #plastic recycling
- #pet plastic
- #biochemistry
- #polymers
Researchers from King's College London and Rutgers University in New Jersey created a modified enzyme (a protein that speeds up chemical reactions) that breaks down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic 10 times quicker, using 10 times less enzyme. They accomplished this just…