Polyhydroxyalkanoate: A biodegradable polymer (a mini review)

Abstract

The current synthetic plastic menace has driven researchers to sort sustainable alternatives. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) has been proven to be sustainable, biodegradable, biocompatible and hence could serve as suitable alternative. PHAs are biodegradable polyester produced by microorganisms that can be produced from renewable substrates such as starch and plant oils. These biopolyesters are accumulated in the intracellular granules and serve as carbon reserve for bacteria. Current studies show that there exists about 150 different monomers of PHA with shared properties similar to synthetic plastics which makes their application wide. This review is focused on giving a background study on polyhydroxyalkanoate, with special considerations on their physicochemical properties, its applications, the pathways that leads to its synthesis and the various applications.