Suprio Kamal
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, PhD
EREF Scholar 2024
Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PET) and its Interplay with Abiotic Degradation: Implications for Recycling and Environmental Fate
Plastics comprise 12.2% of the municipal solid waste stream in the U.S. Only a small fraction of plastic waste is recycled (9%); a major fraction ends up in incinerators, landfills, and/or accidentally gets released into surface water, soil, and air. Plastics can break down into micro- (MP) and nano-plastics (NP) in the environment due to photo-, mechanical-, and microbialdegradation. These widely spread pollutants have ecosystem and health consequences as they are bioavailable and can be vectors of toxic pollutants and pathogens. Single-use poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) can comprise 40% of plastic waste and is widely found in the environment. Compared to nonbiodegradable plastics, PET is prone to microbial degradation due to its hydrolyzable ester bonds. This also motivated the recent development of energy-efficient enzymatic recycling technology. However, it remains unknown 1) how other environmental stressors (e.g., UV and mechanical abrasion) interact with the enzymatic hydrolysis of PET, and 2) how enzymatic hydrolysis could vary among diverse PET products with different properties (size, crystallinities, and additives). Indeed, environmentally recovered plastic debris is often distinct from its virgin counterparts. Expanding our fundamental understanding of enzyme PET interactions and their interplay with abiotic degradation is a central criterion to assess its environmental fate and develop efficient enzymatic recycling processes.
Biography
Suprio Kamal earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (2021) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Over the next year, Suprio worked as an assistant research engineer at Sustainability in Energy, and Environment Research group at BUET that involved developing a hydrothermal carbonization process to convert municipal-solid-wastes to biochar, based on process design and techno-economic studies, scaling up and optimization from lab scale kinetic modeling and an also a successful pilot-scale demonstration. Suprio then joined Dr. Boya Xiong’s research group at the University of Minnesota (2022) to pursue his doctoral studies with expected graduation by 2027. His doctoral theses focus on understanding the effects of enzymatic activity, ultraviolet weathering, and mechanical co-treatment on plastics recycling and environmental fate of (micro)plastics. Suprio’s commitment to mentorship includes co-supervising multiple undergraduate students at BUET and at the University of Minnesota who are currently involved in competitive graduate programs as well as organizing outreach workshops catered to K-12 students to increase literacy on plastic waste pollution and management.
