Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)-Based sustainable bioplastic derived from Bacillus sp. KE4 isolated from kitchen waste effluent

Petrochemical-derived plastics pose a major threat to the biosphere and the environment due to their acute or long-term toxicity. Therefore, to ensure sustainability, it is essential to find an effective replacement for synthetic plastics with natural and ecofriendly biomaterial. In this context, production of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) was produced by the Bacillus sp. KE4 using glucose as the carbon source, and a maximum dry cell weight (DCW) of 4.4 g/l with a PHB concentration of 3.1 g/l, PHB yield of 0.15 g/g was obtained, and the PHB content was 70.4% of the DCW. The extracted biopolymer was characterized using FTIR, GC-MS, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR which confirmed the structure of the biopolymer as PHB. The findings of TGA, DTG, DTA and DSC studies corresponded to PHB's excellent thermal stability. PHB biopolymer has a melting temperature of 168.7 °C and a maximum degradation temperature of 273 °C. The weight average molar mass (Mw), number average molar mass (Mn), and polydispersity index (PDI) of the extracted PHB was 1,55,436 g mol−1; 1,43,258 g mol−1; and 1.08, respectively. The XRD analysis validated the material's partly crystalline nature. FESEM-EDS and XPS were employed to determine the elemental composition of the purified PHB film. The Young's modulus, tensile strength and elongation at break showed rigid and brittle nature of PHB. Using open windrow composting method, the extracted PHB biopolymer film was assessed to determine its biodegradability. Within 28 days of soil burial, it was found that the biopolymer film had degraded by 61.34%. Cytotoxicity assessment in HepG2 cells indicated that PHB is non-cytotoxic in nature. The results have showed that the biomaterial is environmentally benign, biodegradable, and biocompatible; therefore, it may find its diverse application covering packaging, medicine, agriculture and allied fields.