Biopolymers (1 Viewer)

[Tommy_Lamp]

"use available evidence to gather and present data from secondary sources and analyse progress in the development and use of a named biopolymer. This analysis should name the specific enzyme(s) used or organism used to synthesise the material and an evaluation of the use or potential use of the polymer produced related to its properties"

i have no idea what to write about this..also, this question was in the 2002 chem HSC paper..

"Assess current developments in the use of biopolymers"

 

[xiao1985]

poly (hydroxybutanoate) is one of the most common and easiest... do a search in bos, you will get more than enough resource to do an assessment on it...

in summary, organism: alcaligenes eutrophus... given sufficeint nutrient for them to mulitply, then restrict diet , so they start to produce desired biopolymer... then harvested for the polymer... can produce up to 70% of their dry body weight...

property similar to poly propylene, used for disposable nappies, etc...

adv: biodegradabe, recyclable
disadv: expensive hence not economically viable...

future research: maybe able to genetically modify cheap/common bacteria like e. coli to produce BHP hence making it less expensive and more affordable...

 

[Tommy_Lamp]

k, thanks.