Chapter 7
Recent Trends in Application of Bacterial
Polymers to Mitigate Organic and Inorganic
Pollutants
P. Muthukumaran, J. Aravind, M. Kamaraj, and K. K. Ramachandran
Abstract Bacteria are adapted in harnessing an array of polymers to perform
assorted roles, as a stored reserve, protection matrixes, etc., and these have conducive attributes that can be tailored for industrial and environmental applications, via
serving as a renewable, biodegradable, and environmentally benign ingredients.
Emerging contaminants pose a huge environmental concern, and the conventional
methods are proving ineffective, hence the need for alternatives, such as the role of
extracellular microbial biopolymers, whose anionic architecture allows the sequestration of positively charged heavy metal ions, which bring about bio-detoxification
of these xenobiotics. Microbial polymer also promises as an alternative of conventional plastics. Bacterial polymers can be classified as polysaccharides, polyamides,
polyesters, and the inorganic polyanhydrides. Aside the scope of production of
commercially viable polymers, enzymatic and chemical path offers the arena to
tailor these bacterial polymers. The current work explores the recent trends and
advances in microbial polymers, especially its role in environmental applications.
Keywords Oil recovery · Heavy meatal sorption · Dye removal · Wastewater
flocculation · Soil remediation
P. Muthukumaran
Kumaraguru College of Technology-India, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
J. Aravind (*)
Department of Civil Engineering- Environmental Engineering, Dhirajlal Gandhi College
of Technology, Omalur, Tamil Nadu, India
M. Kamaraj
Department of Biotechnology, College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Addis Ababa
Science and Technology University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
K. K. Ramachandran
Dr GRD Institutions-India, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Aravind et al. (eds.), Strategies and Tools for Pollutant Mitigation,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63575-6_7
137
Recent Trends in Application of Bacterial
Polymers to Mitigate Organic and Inorganic
Pollutants
P. Muthukumaran, J. Aravind, M. Kamaraj, and K. K. Ramachandran
Abstract Bacteria are adapted in harnessing an array of polymers to perform
assorted roles, as a stored reserve, protection matrixes, etc., and these have conducive attributes that can be tailored for industrial and environmental applications, via
serving as a renewable, biodegradable, and environmentally benign ingredients.
Emerging contaminants pose a huge environmental concern, and the conventional
methods are proving ineffective, hence the need for alternatives, such as the role of
extracellular microbial biopolymers, whose anionic architecture allows the sequestration of positively charged heavy metal ions, which bring about bio-detoxification
of these xenobiotics. Microbial polymer also promises as an alternative of conventional plastics. Bacterial polymers can be classified as polysaccharides, polyamides,
polyesters, and the inorganic polyanhydrides. Aside the scope of production of
commercially viable polymers, enzymatic and chemical path offers the arena to
tailor these bacterial polymers. The current work explores the recent trends and
advances in microbial polymers, especially its role in environmental applications.
Keywords Oil recovery · Heavy meatal sorption · Dye removal · Wastewater
flocculation · Soil remediation
P. Muthukumaran
Kumaraguru College of Technology-India, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
J. Aravind (*)
Department of Civil Engineering- Environmental Engineering, Dhirajlal Gandhi College
of Technology, Omalur, Tamil Nadu, India
M. Kamaraj
Department of Biotechnology, College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Addis Ababa
Science and Technology University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
K. K. Ramachandran
Dr GRD Institutions-India, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Aravind et al. (eds.), Strategies and Tools for Pollutant Mitigation,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63575-6_7
137