Valorization of Polyhydroxybutyrate Biomass for Platform Chemical Generation

The downstream processing of PHAs is often energy-intensive, solvent-heavy, and environmentally unsustainable. To improve the overall process viability, alternative valorization strategies that bypass conventional extraction are gaining interest (1). This research focusses on the direct use of PHA-containing biomass to enable a more sustainable valorization strategy by bypassing conventional polymer purification processes.

This study investigates the use of Caldimonas thermodepolymerans biomass for its direct conversion into platform chemicals (2). This thermophilic PHA-producing bacterium, accumulates high levels of polyhydroxybutyrate (P(3HB)) and shows promise for high-density cultivation (3). However, most research with this thermophile focusses on small scale fermentations and erlenmeyer batches, whereas our goals are to increase biomass production and scale.