Catching up with OMNISEC! Part 5
Welcome to 2024! The beginning of a new calendar year brings the opportunity to reflect on the recently completed year, and for me and this blog, that means checking in on OMNISEC mentions in the scientific literature. See parts Four, Three, Two, and One of this series at the respective links!
In past years I’ve tried to highlight papers that fit a certain theme. This year, the choice became obvious as a certain topic repeatedly appeared as I was reviewing articles: sustainability.
So, please read on to learn how OMNISEC is doing its small part to assist the people working to improve the outlook of our natural resources.
Depolymerizing and recycling PMMA
Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, led by Kyriaki Gkaliou, investigated the polymerization of thermo-chemically recycled MMA from mixed industrial PMMA waste. The recovered MMA oils were polymerized using solution polymerization, emulsion polymerization, and neat casting polymerization. While decent results were obtained via solution polymerizations, the emulsion polymerizations provided new PMMA that compared with fresh batches and required no further purification. An OMNISEC REVEAL ULTRA helped provide molecular weight characterization for the samples!
Extraction of biopolymers using sustainable solvents
A team led by Piotr Jablonski at Umeå University in Sweden has developed a method to extract Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from Photobacterium ganghwense C2.2 using dihydrolevoglucosenone (Cyrene) and ethanol as biobased solvents obtainable from sustainable sources. A yield of greater than 70% was obtained in only 15 minutes. The Cyrene was recycled and used for 5 extractions, during which the yield and molecular weight of the extracted material remained consistent. An OMNISEC with a SEC-MALS 20 unit was used to measure the molecular weight!
Recycling of Polybutadiene Rubber
A group at Sandia National Laboratories in the US led by Brad Jones has demonstrated the ability to depolymerize crosslinked rubber samples, specifically polybutadiene. Using second generation Hoveyda-Grubbs catalyst in thermoplastic capsules (such as PLA), the Tg of the thermoplastic can be used to effect depolymerization of the polybutadiene. Ultimately, the depolymerized product can be processed back into solid rubber, showing recycling of cross-linked rubbers! OMNISEC was used to monitor the molecular weight of the virgin and depolymerized resins – neat stuff!
Biodegradation of PLA films containing chitin nanocrystals
A team from Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands led by Murat Yanat found that the effects of including chitin nanocrystals into PLA food packaging materials were all positive. The chitin nanocrystals increased the mechanical strength of the PLA materials and did not affect the packaging’s biodegradability. In addition to using OMNISEC with a mobile phase of HFIP to characterize the molecular weights of the PLA/chitin nanocrystal samples, the researchers also employed a Zetasizer Ultra to study the particle size distribution of the chitin nanocrystals!
Improving the biodegradability of PLGA using amino acids
Gülce Taşkor Önel at Erzincan Binali Yildirim University in Turkey has coupled two different amino acids, L-ornithine and L-gluatmine, to PLGA samples. Inclusion of the amino acid with the PLGA increased the hydrophilic nature of the material as a whole, which led to the observation of faster degradation times and qualified the samples as biomaterials. An OMNISEC system offering conventional calibration was used to characterize the PLGA and PLGA-amino acid samples!
Final thoughts
In conclusion, this is the fifth annual entry of the Catching up with OMNISEC series. Based on the number of papers related to sustainability efforts, whether that is recycling, biodegradation, or something else, I have a feeling this theme might come up again in future editions of the post. Which is definitely a good thing!
If you are an OMNISEC user and wish to have your publication included in a future Catching up with OMNISEC post, please contact me at kyle.williams@malvernpanalytical.com.
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