Approaches in Sustainable, Biobased Multilayer Packaging Solutions.

The depletion of fossil resources and the growing demand for plastic waste reduction has put industries and academic researchers under pressure to develop increasingly sustainable packaging solutions that are both functional and circularly designed. In this review, we provide an overview of the fundamentals and recent advances in biobased packaging materials, including new materials and techniques for their modification as well as their end-of-life scenarios. We also discuss the composition and modification of biobased films and multilayer structures, with particular attention to readily available drop-in solutions, as well as coating techniques.

Triggering of Polymer-Degrading Enzymes from Layered Double Hydroxides for Recycling Strategies.

The use of degrading enzymes in polymer formulation is a very attractive strategy to manage the end-of-life of plastics. However, high temperatures cause the denaturation of enzymes and the loss of their catalytic activity; therefore, protection strategies are necessary. Once protected, the enzyme needs to be released in appropriate media to exert its catalytic activity.

Bacterial colonization dynamics of different microplastic types in an anoxic salt marsh sediment and impact of adsorbed polychlorinated biphenyls on the plastisphere.

Plastic debris dispersed into the environment provide a substrate for microbial colonization, constituting a new human-made ecosystem called "plastisphere", and altering the microbial species distribution in aquatic, coastal and benthic ecosystems. The study aims at exploring the interaction among microplastics (MPs) made of different polymers, a persistent organic contaminant (polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs), and the environmental microbial communities, in an anoxic marine sediment. Plastic pellets were incubated in the field in a salt marsh anoxic sediment, to observe the stages of plastisphere formation, by quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and PCB dechlorination activity on the MPs surface.

Enzymatic Degradation of the Most Common Aliphatic Bio-Polyesters and Evaluation of the Mechanisms Involved: An Extended Study.

Commercial hydrolytic enzymes belonging to different subclasses (several lipases, proteinase k, cutinase) were investigated for their ability to degrade different aliphatic polyesters, i.e., poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), poly(butylene succinate--adipate) (PBSA), two poly(caprolactone), having two different molecular weights, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC).

Microbial colonization of different microplastic types and biotransformation of sorbed PCBs by a marine anaerobic bacterial community.

We investigated the colonization dynamics of different microplastic (MP) pellets, namely, polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), either pristine or contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), by an organohalide respiring marine microbial community and its biotransformation activity towards PCBs sorbed on MPs, in anaerobic laboratory microcosms of a marine sediment. All MPs were rapidly colonized by the microbial community within 2 weeks of incubation, when approximately 10 16S rRNA gene copies cm were detected on PVC, 10 copies cm on PE, and 10 copies cm- on PET, PP and PS. A greater biofilm growth on PVC pellets than other MPs was confirmed by quantification of the reducing sugars of the EPS and biofilm staining with crystal violet.

Improving prospective memory performance with future event simulation in traumatic brain injury patients.

Objective: Previous studies have shown that traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients have difficulties with prospective memory (PM). Considering that PM is closely linked to independent living it is of primary interest to develop strategies that can improve PM performance in TBI patients.

Method: This study employed Virtual Week task as a measure of PM, and we included future event simulation to boost PM performance.

Development of an attached-growth process for the on-site bioremediation of an aquifer polluted by chlorinated solvents.

A procedure for the design of an aerobic cometabolic process for the on-site degradation of chlorinated solvents in a packed bed reactor was developed using groundwater from an aquifer contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (TeCA). The work led to the selection of butane among five tested growth substrates, and to the development and characterization from the site's indigenous biomass of a suspended-cell consortium capable to degrade TCE (first order constant: 96 L gprotein(-1) day(-1) at 30 °C and 4.3 L gprotein(-1) day(-1) at 15 °C) with a 90 % mineralization of the organic chlorine.

Trichloroethylene aerobic cometabolism by suspended and immobilized butane-growing microbial consortia: a kinetic study.

A kinetic study of butane uptake and trichloroethylene (TCE) aerobic cometabolism was conducted by two suspended-cell (15 and 30°C) and two attached-cell (15 and 30°C) consortia obtained from the indigenous biomass of a TCE-contaminated aquifer. The shift from suspended to attached cells resulted in an increase of butane (15 and 30°C) and TCE (15°C) biodegradation rates, and a significant decrease of butane inhibition on TCE biodegradation. The TCE 15°C maximum specific biodegradation rate was equal to 0.