Factors modulating the hydrolysis of Nylon-6,6 by a nylon hydrolase enzyme

V Bocharova and EE Drufva and JF Cahill and I Popov and IT Dishner and MC Zhou and GS Jung and AM Ullman and DL Carper and JT Damron and JK Keum and C Gainaru and SH Chen and JC Foster and JK Michener, POLYMER CHEMISTRY, 16, 1858-1868 (2025).

DOI: 10.1039/d5py00023h

The enzymatic hydrolysis of polyamides offers a promising approach to reduce the environmental impact of chemical recycling by enabling lower reaction temperatures, eliminating toxic organic solvents, and enhancing product selectivity. Achieving this goal will require increasing the low overall yield of enzymatic hydrolysis. In this work, we studied the mechanism of hydrolysis of commercial Nylon-6,6 polymer with a thermostable Nylon hydrolyzing enzyme and identified the substrate characteristics that influence the efficiency and deconstruction product yield. These results will guide the development of effective substrate pre-treatment methods to improve the yield of valuable oligoamide building blocks via enzymatic hydrolysis.

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