Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters01:20

Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters

2.3K
The introduction of polyesters has brought major development to the textile industry. The wrinkle-free behavior of polyester blends has eliminated the need for starching and ironing clothes.
Polyesters are commonly prepared from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol; the crude product is known as poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET. However, polyesters are synthesized industrially by transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at 150 °C. The two reactants and the...
2.3K
Free-Radical Chain Reaction and Polymerization of Alkenes02:35

Free-Radical Chain Reaction and Polymerization of Alkenes

8.1K
The conversion of alkenes to macromolecules called polymers is a reaction of high commercial importance. The structure of the polymer is defined by a repeating unit, while the terminal groups are considered insignificant. The average degree of polymerization represents the number of repeating units in the polymer molecule and is denoted by the subscript n.
8.1K
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET)00:53

Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET)

2.0K
Acyclic diene metathesis polymerization or ADMET polymerization involves cross-metathesis of terminal dienes, such as 1,8-nonadiene, to give linear unsaturated polymer and ethylene. As ADMET is a reversible process, the formed ethylene gas must be removed from the reaction mixture to complete the polymerization process.
Similar to cross-metathesis, ADMET also involves the formation of metallacyclobutane intermediate by [2+2] cycloaddition of one of the double bonds of a terminal diene with...
2.0K
Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview01:03

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview

3.6K
Step-growth or condensation polymerization is a stepwise reaction of bi or multifunctional monomers to form long-chain polymers. As all the monomers are reactive, most of the monomers are consumed at the early stages of the reaction to form small chains of reactive oligomers, which then combine to form long polymer chains in the late stages. Hence, the reaction has to proceed for a long time to achieve high molecular weight polymers.
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...
3.6K
Polymer Classification: Architecture01:14

Polymer Classification: Architecture

2.9K
Polymers are classified as linear or branched on the basis of their chain architecture. The polymer chains in linear polymers have a long chain-like structure with minimal to no branching at all. Even if a polymer features large substituent groups on the monomer, which appear as branches to the skeleton, it is not considered a branched polymer. A branched polymer contains secondary polymer chains that arise from the main polymer chain. The branching occurs when the polymer growth shifts from...
2.9K
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Overview01:13

Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Overview

2.2K
Recently, the development of olefin metathesis polymerization advanced the field of polymer synthesis. Simply put, the reorganization of substituents on their double bonds between two olefins in the presence of a catalyst is known as the olefin metathesis reaction. The use of metathesis reaction for polymer synthesis is called olefin metathesis polymerization.
Ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst for olefin metathesis polymerization. Grubbs catalyst consists...
2.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Engineering and Application of a Thermostable MHETase for PET Depolymerization.

ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering·2026
Same author

Production of aromatics from high density polyethylene over a hierarchical zeolite synthesised from steam-assisted crystallisation.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Recognition of non-standard base pairs by triplex-forming oligonucleotides containing an expanded genetic alphabet.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Lignin to adipic acid in a high-yield chemical and biological redox process.

Nature·2026
Same author

Atypical B cells and inflammatory profiles delineate immunity to influenza vaccination in First Nations and non-Indigenous people with chronic multimorbidity.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Expanding the genetic toolset: using serine recombinases to integrate riboregulatory elements into industrially relevant microbial chassis.

Journal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 10, 2025

Ethylene Polymerizations Using Parallel Pressure Reactors and a Kinetic Analysis of Chain Transfer Polymerization
07:28

Ethylene Polymerizations Using Parallel Pressure Reactors and a Kinetic Analysis of Chain Transfer Polymerization

Published on: November 27, 2015

13.3K

Engineering PHL7 for improved poly(ethylene terephthalate) depolymerization via rational design and directed

Thomas M Groseclose1,2, Erin Kober1,2, Matilda Clark2,3

  • 1Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.

Chem Catalysis
|August 27, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers engineered novel PET hydrolase enzymes for improved polyester recycling. The PHL7-Jemez enzyme showed significantly enhanced depolymerization of amorphous poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) in bioreactors.

Keywords:
PET hydrolasePETase modelingPHL7Protein engineeringdirected evolutionenzymatic plastic degradationhigh-throughput screeningplastic recyclingpoly(ethylene terephthalate)split GFP

More Related Videos

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
10:22

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer

Published on: November 30, 2020

3.6K
Depolymerizable Olefinic Polymers Based on Fused-Ring Cyclooctene Monomers
08:12

Depolymerizable Olefinic Polymers Based on Fused-Ring Cyclooctene Monomers

Published on: December 16, 2022

3.4K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 10, 2025

Ethylene Polymerizations Using Parallel Pressure Reactors and a Kinetic Analysis of Chain Transfer Polymerization
07:28

Ethylene Polymerizations Using Parallel Pressure Reactors and a Kinetic Analysis of Chain Transfer Polymerization

Published on: November 27, 2015

13.3K
Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
10:22

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer

Published on: November 30, 2020

3.6K
Depolymerizable Olefinic Polymers Based on Fused-Ring Cyclooctene Monomers
08:12

Depolymerizable Olefinic Polymers Based on Fused-Ring Cyclooctene Monomers

Published on: December 16, 2022

3.4K

Area of Science:

  • Biotechnology
  • Biocatalysis
  • Polymer Science

Background:

  • Enzymatic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) offers a sustainable route for polyester recycling.
  • Industrial application requires PET hydrolases with high depolymerization efficiency and thermostability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To engineer enhanced PET hydrolase enzymes from a natural source.
  • To develop a high-throughput screening platform for enzyme evolution.
  • To evaluate the performance of engineered enzymes in PET depolymerization.

Main Methods:

  • Rational design and directed evolution of the Polyester Hydrolase Leipzig #7 (PHL7) enzyme.
  • High-throughput screening for identifying improved enzyme variants.
  • Bioreactor experiments to assess depolymerization of amorphous PET film at various substrate loadings.

Main Results:

  • Four engineered PHL7 variants demonstrated superior properties compared to wild-type PHL7 (PHL7-WT).
  • The PHL7-Jemez variant showed a 37% increase in hydrolysis at 2.9% substrate loading and a 270% increase at 20% loading after 48 hours.
  • Engineered enzymes outperformed benchmark PET hydrolases under tested conditions.

Conclusions:

  • Developed state-of-the-art PET hydrolases with enhanced depolymerization capabilities.
  • Established a robust directed evolution platform for engineering high-performance biocatalysts.
  • The findings accelerate enzyme discovery for efficient biocatalytic recycling of polyesters.