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Production
Polyhydroxyalcanoates (PHA) are bacteria-synthesized, intracellularly accumulated polyesters from saturated and unsaturated hydroxyalcanoic acids. They exist either as homopolymers or as copolymers of the various hydroxyalcanoic acids. From the large number of monomers capable of building PHA, from the possible variations in the linking of the monomers to the polymer, from variations in the chain length of the polymers, the possibility of producing blends from different PHA and the possibilityof additionally introducing chemical or physical modifications into the polymer skeleton, one derives an almost inexhaustible multiplicity within this polymer family. This great variety fundamentally assures the potential of producing PHA with extremely differing properties, thereby opening up a plethora of fields of application. Nevertheless, it is assumed that out of this fundamental multiplicity, only about 5 to 10 different polymers would be of interest for industrial production.
PHA/PHB/PHV biotechnological production process consists of the following steps: fermentation, isolation and purification, mixing and granules processing.
Microorganisms involved in the production of PHA/PHB/PHV are of various kinds: a different mix of microorganisms, along with a different type of culture broth, brings to a wide range of products with distinct mechanical characteristics.
PHAs are thermoplastic, biodegradable, biocompatible, and nontoxic. In terms of fabricability, they scarcely differ from plastics based on petrochemical raw materials so that the installations customarily used in plastics technology are also suitable for fabrication of PHAs. Because of their biodegradability and biotechnical production from biogenic raw materials, PHAs are considered alternatives to non-degradable polymers based on fossil-derived raw materials.