Professor Kim and his research team. Provided by Korea University.

By  Jang Haegyeong (hanna020718@korea.ac.kr)

On March 23, the results of a plastic depolymerization study discovered by Professor Kim Kyoung Heon (Department of Food Bioscience and Technology) and his research team were published in ACS Catalysis, an international journal in the field of catalysis published by the American Chemical Society.
The method of deploymerizing plastics into renewable materials using eco-friendly catalysts, rather than conventional methods of recycling plastics, was developed in cooperation with Kim Hee Taek, a researcher at Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and Han Jeong Woo (Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology). The research team found that it is efficient to use a substance called betaine as a catalyst for the depolymerization process, and predicted that the bioconversion process would prevent environmental pollution caused by plastics and contribute to the development of a Circular Economy.
Professor Kim mentioned that plastic, one of today's big inventions, is conveniently used in many fields, but he recognized the problem of increasing environmental pollution caused by its properties. However, the traditional method is limited in that it only uses enzymes to decompose Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is why his team tried to integrate chemical and enzyme processes into the PET depolymerization process and produce high value-added products rather than simply decomposing PET. He also expressed his hopes that the research will continue to develop in Korea and gain independent power in the field of plastic disposal.

출처 : 고려대학교 고파스 2024-04-26 01:49:11: