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Investigation of the Mechanical Strength of Cell-plastics Fabricated Using Unicellular Green Algal Cells and Varying Weight Ratios of Biodegradable Polybutylene Succinate

Received: 14 October 2020     Accepted: 23 October 2020     Published: 11 November 2020
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Abstract

Petroleum-derived plastics are currently indispensable; however, they are non-recyclable and exhaustible. Despite global progress in the research and development for biodegradable green plastics using recyclable resources, green plastics are unable to replace petroleum-derived plastics so far because of the costs involved in the extraction and purification processes. Due to the increasing demand for the development of innovative green plastics, cell-plastic composed of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as an ingredient and biodegradable compounds as fillers was proposed as a novel green plastic. For a carbon-recycling system in the future, C. reinhardtii is advantageous due to higher growth activity using CO2 gas in atmosphere compared to other terrestrial plants. In addition, the rigidity of its cell wall would prevent the reduction of a mechanical strength of the cell-plastics. Green plastics made of organic polymers are expensive because of high producing cost. On the other hand, the plastics made of green algae, instead of organic polymers, would be expected reducing the price. Thus, the purpose of this study was to clarify whether the cell-plastics produced by substituting organic polymers with algal cells could perform mechanical and physical properties similar to existing plastics products. As a filler for cell-plastics, biodegradable polybutylene succinate (PBS), which form a self-standing film, was chosen in this study. PBS cell-plastics were examined for their following mechanical and physical properties: Young's modulus, tensile strength, thermal analysis, and surface hydrophilicity. PBS cell-plastic (1:1) composed of 50% PBS (w/w) exhibited the potential to replace petroleum-derived plastics such as low-density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride. This study introduces the practical possibility of PBS cell-plastics as green plastics.

Published in International Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11
Page(s) 159-164
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Cell-plastics, Green Alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Polybutylene Succinate (PBS), Biodegradable

References
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[15] Nazrin A, Sapuan SM, Zuhri MYM, Ilyas RA, Syafiq R, Sherwani SFK (2020) Nanocellulose reinforced thermoplastic starch (TPS), polylactic acid (PLA), and polybutylene succinate (PBS) for food packaging applications. Front Chem. 8: 213.
[16] Zhang Y, Zhou S, Fang X, Zhou X, Wang J, Bai F, Peng S (2019) Renewable and flexible UV-blocking film from poly (butylene succinate) and lignin. Eur. Polym. J. 116: 265–274.
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    Akihito Nakanishi, Kohei Iritani, Yuri Sakihama, Marina Watanabe. (2020). Investigation of the Mechanical Strength of Cell-plastics Fabricated Using Unicellular Green Algal Cells and Varying Weight Ratios of Biodegradable Polybutylene Succinate. International Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 5(4), 159-164. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11

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    ACS Style

    Akihito Nakanishi; Kohei Iritani; Yuri Sakihama; Marina Watanabe. Investigation of the Mechanical Strength of Cell-plastics Fabricated Using Unicellular Green Algal Cells and Varying Weight Ratios of Biodegradable Polybutylene Succinate. Int. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2020, 5(4), 159-164. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11

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    AMA Style

    Akihito Nakanishi, Kohei Iritani, Yuri Sakihama, Marina Watanabe. Investigation of the Mechanical Strength of Cell-plastics Fabricated Using Unicellular Green Algal Cells and Varying Weight Ratios of Biodegradable Polybutylene Succinate. Int J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2020;5(4):159-164. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11,
      author = {Akihito Nakanishi and Kohei Iritani and Yuri Sakihama and Marina Watanabe},
      title = {Investigation of the Mechanical Strength of Cell-plastics Fabricated Using Unicellular Green Algal Cells and Varying Weight Ratios of Biodegradable Polybutylene Succinate},
      journal = {International Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology},
      volume = {5},
      number = {4},
      pages = {159-164},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijmb.20200504.11},
      abstract = {Petroleum-derived plastics are currently indispensable; however, they are non-recyclable and exhaustible. Despite global progress in the research and development for biodegradable green plastics using recyclable resources, green plastics are unable to replace petroleum-derived plastics so far because of the costs involved in the extraction and purification processes. Due to the increasing demand for the development of innovative green plastics, cell-plastic composed of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as an ingredient and biodegradable compounds as fillers was proposed as a novel green plastic. For a carbon-recycling system in the future, C. reinhardtii is advantageous due to higher growth activity using CO2 gas in atmosphere compared to other terrestrial plants. In addition, the rigidity of its cell wall would prevent the reduction of a mechanical strength of the cell-plastics. Green plastics made of organic polymers are expensive because of high producing cost. On the other hand, the plastics made of green algae, instead of organic polymers, would be expected reducing the price. Thus, the purpose of this study was to clarify whether the cell-plastics produced by substituting organic polymers with algal cells could perform mechanical and physical properties similar to existing plastics products. As a filler for cell-plastics, biodegradable polybutylene succinate (PBS), which form a self-standing film, was chosen in this study. PBS cell-plastics were examined for their following mechanical and physical properties: Young's modulus, tensile strength, thermal analysis, and surface hydrophilicity. PBS cell-plastic (1:1) composed of 50% PBS (w/w) exhibited the potential to replace petroleum-derived plastics such as low-density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride. This study introduces the practical possibility of PBS cell-plastics as green plastics.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Investigation of the Mechanical Strength of Cell-plastics Fabricated Using Unicellular Green Algal Cells and Varying Weight Ratios of Biodegradable Polybutylene Succinate
    AU  - Akihito Nakanishi
    AU  - Kohei Iritani
    AU  - Yuri Sakihama
    AU  - Marina Watanabe
    Y1  - 2020/11/11
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11
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    JF  - International Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
    JO  - International Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    EP  - 164
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2578-9686
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmb.20200504.11
    AB  - Petroleum-derived plastics are currently indispensable; however, they are non-recyclable and exhaustible. Despite global progress in the research and development for biodegradable green plastics using recyclable resources, green plastics are unable to replace petroleum-derived plastics so far because of the costs involved in the extraction and purification processes. Due to the increasing demand for the development of innovative green plastics, cell-plastic composed of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as an ingredient and biodegradable compounds as fillers was proposed as a novel green plastic. For a carbon-recycling system in the future, C. reinhardtii is advantageous due to higher growth activity using CO2 gas in atmosphere compared to other terrestrial plants. In addition, the rigidity of its cell wall would prevent the reduction of a mechanical strength of the cell-plastics. Green plastics made of organic polymers are expensive because of high producing cost. On the other hand, the plastics made of green algae, instead of organic polymers, would be expected reducing the price. Thus, the purpose of this study was to clarify whether the cell-plastics produced by substituting organic polymers with algal cells could perform mechanical and physical properties similar to existing plastics products. As a filler for cell-plastics, biodegradable polybutylene succinate (PBS), which form a self-standing film, was chosen in this study. PBS cell-plastics were examined for their following mechanical and physical properties: Young's modulus, tensile strength, thermal analysis, and surface hydrophilicity. PBS cell-plastic (1:1) composed of 50% PBS (w/w) exhibited the potential to replace petroleum-derived plastics such as low-density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride. This study introduces the practical possibility of PBS cell-plastics as green plastics.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Graduate School of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

  • School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

  • Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

  • School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

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