Bacterial Degradation of Low-Density Polyethylene Preferentially Targets the Amorphous Regions of the Polymer

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is among the most abundant synthetic plastics in the world, contributing significantly to the plastic waste accumulation problem. A variety of microorganisms, such as <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> H16, <i>Pseudomonas putida</i> LS46, and <i>Pseudomonas chlororaphis</i> PA2361, can form biofilms on the surface of LDPE polymers and cause damage to the exterior structure. However, the damage is not extensive and complete degradation has not been achieved. The changes in polymer structure were analyzed using Time-domain Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (TD-NMR), High-Temperature Size-Exclusion Chromatography (HT-SEC), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Gas Chromatography with a Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). Limited degradation of the LDPE powder was seen in the first 30 days of incubation with the bacteria. Degradation can be seen in the LDPE weight loss percentage, LDPE degradation products in the supernatant, and the decrease in the percentage of amorphous regions (from >47% to 40%). The changes in weight-average molar mass (Mw), number-average molar mass (Mn), and the dispersity ratio (Đ) indicate that the low-molar mass fractions of the LDPE were preferentially degraded. The results here confirmed that LDPE degradation is heavily dependent on the presence of amorphous content and that only the amorphous content was degraded via bacterial enzymatic action.