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Hydrolases in Polymer Chemistry: Part III: Synthesis and Limited Surface Hydrolysis of Polyesters and Other Polymers

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Enzymatic Polymerisation

Part of the book series: Advances in Polymer Science ((POLYMER,volume 237))

Abstract

Limited enzymatic surface hydrolysis of polyamides, polyethyleneterphthalates (PET) and polyacrylonitriles has been demonstrated to be a powerful and yet mild strategy for directly improving polymer surface properties (e.g., hydrophilicity) or activating materials for further processing. Recently, mechanistic details on enzymatic surface hydrolysis have become available, especially for the functionalisation of PET, which has been investigated in most detail. Generally, enzymes show a strong preference for amorphous regions of polymers. Consequently, during hydrolysis, the degree of crystallinity increases according to FTIR and DSC analysis. MALDI-TOF analysis has shown that PET hydrolases (i.e. cutinases and lipases) cleave the polymer endo-wise, in contrast to alkaline hydrolysis. As a result, an increase in the amount of carboxyl and hydroxyl groups has been found upon enzymatic hydrolysis, according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and various derivatisation and titration methods recently adapted for this purpose. These mechanistic data, combined with advances in structural and molecular biology, help to explain the considerably different activities of closely related enzymes (e.g. cutinases) on polymers.

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Acknowledgement

The work was financed by the SFG, the FFG, the city of Graz and the province of Styria within the MacroFun project and supported by the European COST868 program.

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  1. Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 12, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Georg M. Guebitz

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  1. Georg M. Guebitz
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Correspondence to Georg M. Guebitz .

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  1. , Dept. Chemical Engineering & Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, 5600 MB, Netherlands

    Anja R. A. Palmans

  2. , School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin, 9, Ireland

    Andreas Heise

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Guebitz, G.M. (2010). Hydrolases in Polymer Chemistry: Part III: Synthesis and Limited Surface Hydrolysis of Polyesters and Other Polymers. In: Palmans, A., Heise, A. (eds) Enzymatic Polymerisation. Advances in Polymer Science, vol 237. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/12_2010_89

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