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PreprintCC BYChemRxiv

Zero-Waste Upcycling of Potato Peels via Direct PLA Grafting for Rapidly Biodegradable Bioplastics

  • Shuzhen Yu1,2
  • Mingxiao Fan3,2
  • Yijie Yang1,2
  • Zixiao Wang1,2
  • Yang Sui4,2
  • Linjie Li5,2
  • Jiajun Yan1,2,6
6 affiliations
  1. 1School of Physical Science and Technology
  2. 2ShanghaiTech University
  3. 3School of Creativity and Art
  4. 4School of Life Science and Technology
  5. 5Bio-Electron Microscopy Facility
  6. 6State Key Laboratory of Advanced Medical Materials and Devices
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Abstract

The escalating global demand for petrochemical plastic packaging has driven a severe environmental crisis due to its inherent resistance to degradation and challenging recycling processes. While upcycling agro-industrial side streams into bioplastics offers an attractive solution, traditional physical blending fails to meet practical packaging requirements due to severe interfacial incompatibility and phase separation. Here we report a scalable, solvent-free surface-initiated ring-opening polymerization (SI-ROP) strategy that directly bridges sustainable agriculture with high-performance degradable packaging. By utilizing minimally treated macroscopic biomass, ubiquitous potato peel waste, and chemically consuming lignocellulosic surface hydroxyls to form permanent ester linkages, we construct a entangled topological network that fundamentally overcomes interfacial limitations. This highly integrated architecture delivers the exceptional mechanical robustness, near-complete UVA/UVB shielding, and competitive gas impermeability required for demanding packaging applications. Furthermore, metagenomic and enzymatic profiling reveals that these packaging materials undergo accelerated, microbially driven mineralization in soil via a synergistic dual-degradation mechanism involving secreted carbohydrate esterases and glycoside hydrolases. By seamlessly transforming agricultural waste into materials designed for complete mineralization, this solvent-free engineering paradigm provides a promising route to unite sustainable agriculture with next-generation packaging in a closed-loop bioeconomy.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{yu2026zerowaste,
  title = {{Zero-Waste Upcycling of Potato Peels via Direct PLA Grafting for Rapidly Biodegradable Bioplastics}},
  author = {Shuzhen Yu and Mingxiao Fan and Yijie Yang and Zixiao Wang and Yang Sui and Linjie Li and Jiajun Yan},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008075/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008075/v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Zero-Waste Upcycling of Potato Peels via Direct PLA Grafting for Rapidly Biodegradable Bioplastics
AU  - Shuzhen Yu
AU  - Mingxiao Fan
AU  - Yijie Yang
AU  - Zixiao Wang
AU  - Yang Sui
AU  - Linjie Li
AU  - Jiajun Yan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/31
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008075/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008075/v1
AB  - The escalating global demand for petrochemical plastic packaging has driven a severe environmental crisis due to its inherent resistance to degradation and challenging recycling processes. While upcycling agro-industrial side streams into bioplastics offers an attractive solution, traditional physical blending fails to meet practical packaging requirements due to severe interfacial incompatibility and phase separation. Here we report a scalable, solvent-free surface-initiated ring-opening polymerization (SI-ROP) strategy that directly bridges sustainable agriculture with high-performance degradable packaging. By utilizing minimally treated macroscopic biomass, ubiquitous potato peel waste, and chemically consuming lignocellulosic surface hydroxyls to form permanent ester linkages, we construct a entangled topological network that fundamentally overcomes interfacial limitations. This highly integrated architecture delivers the exceptional mechanical robustness, near-complete UVA/UVB shielding, and competitive gas impermeability required for demanding packaging applications. Furthermore, metagenomic and enzymatic profiling reveals that these packaging materials undergo accelerated, microbially driven mineralization in soil via a synergistic dual-degradation mechanism involving secreted carbohydrate esterases and glycoside hydrolases. By seamlessly transforming agricultural waste into materials designed for complete mineralization, this solvent-free engineering paradigm provides a promising route to unite sustainable agriculture with next-generation packaging in a closed-loop bioeconomy.
ER  -