Fig. 3: Integrated chemical and microbial processing for PET deconstruction.
From: Engineering microbial division of labor for plastic upcycling
a Schematic illustration of an integrated PET processing workflow. PET is depolymerized through alkaline hydrolysis to generate a solution containing TPA and EG. The solution is then added with M9 medium to form a growth medium. Subsequently, the medium is inoculated with engineered microbes to fulfill fermentations to realize a full degradation. b The molar yield (%) of Na2TPA and EG from PET powder under various hydrolysis conditions. c Characterization of the crude hydrolysis product using pure TPA and EG as standard samples, confirming successful TPA and EG release from PET. d–g Temporal profiles of a direct PET hydrolysate fermentation by the Pp-T (d), Pp-E (e), T-E consortium (f), and the single strain Pp-TE (g). The Pp-T and Pp-E co-culture was inoculated at a 3:1 ratio. Experimental data are presented as mean values with standard deviations from three independent experiments. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
