Work

Effect of Agricultural Beneficial Microbes on the Degradability of Polylactic Acid Film in the Farmland Environment

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: , are widely used in the growth cycle of crops, and increase the yield of agricultural products through disease prevention and sterilization. As a biodegradable biological macromolecular material, polylactic acid (PLA) is also widely used in agricultural production as a biodegradable film. The addition of agricultural microbes will affect the degradation rate of polylactic acid and thus its agricultural use. Under specific conditions (Tri15), the degradation rate of PLA film exceeds 30%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show that the degradation of the PLA happened after 360 days of exposure to these three specific microbe environments, which makes the surface of PLA films crack. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis reveals that in the presence of these microbes, the molecular weight of PLA is reduced. The analysis of 16S rDNA sequences demonstrates that the introduction of these microbes alters the soil microbial community, resulting in an enhanced abundance of Betaproteomicrobes, promoting the degradation of PLA. These results indicate that the three microbes species significantly promote the degradation of PLA, and the effects of microbes vary for the different concentrations. This study establishes practical guidelines for the deployment of PLA in real-world farmland environments.

Source: Polymers

DOI: 10.3390/polym18020212

Authors: Yuan He, Yi Dan, Long Jiang, Yun Huang, Hong Zhang, Yanjiao Qi

Institutions: Northwest Minzu University, Sichuan University

Language: English

Topic: biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties

Subfield: Biomaterials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Zero hunger, Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,258