A REVIEW: LDPE-BIODEGRADATION USING MICROBIAL CONSORTIUM BY THE INCORPORATION OF SUPER PARAMAGNETIC IRON OXIDE NANOPARTICLE (SPION) AS THE ENHANCER FOR BIODEGRADATION

Abstract

Plastics have become a most important part of modern life and are used in different sectors of applications like
packaging, building materials, consumer products and much more. The worldwide utilization of polyethylene is
expanding at a rate of 12% annum and approximately 140 million tons of synthetic polymers are produced worldwide
each year.Biodegradation especially by making microbial consortium will be a good choice for plastic degradation.
Nanoparticles have varied potential applications. Studies with nanoparticles have shown their ability in enhancement of
polymer degradation. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) with size ranging 10.6-37.8 nm were
synthesized and characterized through XRD, FT-IR spectra, simultaneous TG-DTG-DTA, vibrational sample
magnetometry (VSM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). SPION accelerating the microbial growth, these
nanoparticles also improved the exponential phase durability. SPION influence the growth profiles of LDPE degrading
microorganisms to augment the biodegradation rate. The review primarily focuses on the biodegradation where SPION
acted as enhancers of biodegradation.The significance of microbial-nanoparticleinteractions which can dramatically
influences key metabolic processes like biodegradation.