Paper published in Science Advances
Michi (Zumstein)'s last chapter of his PhD thesis was just published in Science Advances.
Michi (Zumstein)'s last chapter of his PhD thesis was just published in Science Advances. In this work, we determined biodegradation of a synthetic polyester, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), in an agricultural soil. This work aimed at assess the potential of using PBAT as a biodegradable alternative to polyethylene mulch films in agricultural applications. To study biodegradation, we incubated carbon-13 isotopically labelel PBAT in an agricultural soil. We used the label and state of the art isotope selective analytical techniques to follow the flow of PBAT carbon during biodegradation both into carbon dioxide and microbial biomass.
For more information on this work, please refer to this ETH Zurich news article and this short external pageyoutube video.
Zumstein, M.T., A. Schintlmeister, T.F. Nelson, R. Baumgartner, D. Woebken, M. Wagner, H.P.E. Kohler, K. McNeill, and M. Sander. Biodegradation of synthetic polymers in soils: Tracking carbon into CO2 and microbial biomass, Science Advances. 2018, 4:eaas9024; external pageDOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aas9024