Novel Process for Making Biorenewable Nylon

Scientists have discovered a new way to make biorenewable nylon. Iowa State University researchers report creating a process that combines genetically engineered yeast and electrocatalysts and converts sugar into nylon.

Affiliated with the National Science Foundation’s Center for Biorenewable Chemicals, the university researchers say the process is more efficient than previous methods that have tried to combine biocatalytic and chemical catalysis. Those previous methods typically resulted in low conversion rates, mainly due to residual impurities from the biological processes.

Better processes, the researchers say, would convert biomass into final products without a gap between biological conversion and chemical diversification. The Iowa State researchers indicate their process represents a strategy to bridge the gap via a hybrid fermentation and electrocatalytic method, and “opens the door to the production of a broad range of compounds not accessible from the petrochemical industry,” says Zengyi Shao, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Iowa State University.

The engineers indicate the next steps will be to scale up the technology by developing a continuous conversion process.