Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biodegradable in nature with the potential to substitute for fossil-fuel based polymers due to their similar properties. Many studies have been conducted on the production of PHA, but the extraction/purification processes have received less attention. Mostly, solvent extraction has been studied, as has the effect of different solvent types on separation processes. A better extraction method for PHA makes it a viable alternative to polymers derived from fossil fuels. A new protocol for extracting PHA from activated sludge using supercritical carbon dioxide disruption (sCO2 ) and recovering biopolymers from disrupted cells was proposed in this study.