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Breaking C-C bonds in polyethylene
Asked by: maestro
from SAN FRANCISCO, CA
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When ethylene polymerizes, the double bond in ethylene breaks and form single bonds and result in polyethylene (CH2)n. Here is the wikipedia overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...
Some bacteria can biodegrade polyethylene (which have at least 60 carbons) and I hypothesize this is because they are able to break the C-C bonds in polyethylene to form smaller chains of alkanes (many bacteria have the ability to process chains of 5-25 carbons in length into fatty acids). How are these C-C bonds broken? I can't seem to find any literature on this particular topic.
Some bacteria can biodegrade polyethylene (which have at least 60 carbons) and I hypothesize this is because they are able to break the C-C bonds in polyethylene to form smaller chains of alkanes (many bacteria have the ability to process chains of 5-25 carbons in length into fatty acids). How are these C-C bonds broken? I can't seem to find any literature on this particular topic.
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Answer Date: 10:50pm 07/17/08
