CD Laboratory for Biodegradation of Water-Soluble Polymers/ Externes Modul: LC-MS-based analytical toolbox for characterizing WSPs in aquatic environments

Water-soluble polymers (WSPs) are essential high-performance ingredients in home and personal care products – with an annual global production exceeding 1 million tons and a market demand that is expected to further increase. Sustainable end-of-life management for WSPs is currently one of the key challenges facing the polymer community. In this context, biodegradable alternatives to persistent WSPs have gained increasing interest from several sectors (including industry, regulation, academia, and the public). Despite this interest, our fundamental understanding of WSP biodegradation in both natural and engineered systems is limited. Particular knowledge gaps are pertaining to the pathway of biodegradation, the microorganisms and enzymes that play a key role in this process, the polymer- and environment-related factors that affect biodegradation, and the analytical methods for investigating WSP biodegradation and assessing the transferability of results from laboratory testing to realistic scenarios. In a collaborative effort of expert researchers from the University of Vienna (UNIVIE), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), and BASF SE, the proposed Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory for Biodegradation of Water-Soluble Polymers will address these knowledge gaps. By pushing forward the knowledge boundaries in this emerging field of research, we seek to fundamentally comprehend the chemistry and microbiology underlying WSP biodegradation and to thereby lay the urgently needed scientific foundation for the design of biodegradable high-performance WSPs and the development of science-based regulations of WSP biodegradability. Given the release of WSPs used in home and personal care applications into wastewater streams, the focus of the proposed research lies on biodegradation in wastewater and freshwater systems. WSP classes of particular interest include polyamino acids and polysaccharides, which are considered promising for combining performance during use and end-of-life biodegradability. The proposed research will be tackled in nine distinct subprojects - each addressing one of our three objectives: (i) identify key factors affecting the kinetics and pathways of WSP biodegradation, (ii) derive links between microbiome functioning and WSP biodegradation, and (iii) develop analytical methods that enable detailed investigations of WSP biodegradation and moving towards realistic scenarios. The proposed CD laboratory responds to the emerging need for a deeper understanding of the fate of WSPs in natural and engineered systems. Through interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration – and by combining expertise in environmental chemistry, microbiology, and analytical chemistry – we will obtain transformative insights into the complex process of WSP biodegradation. Specific anticipated outcomes include elucidated biodegradation pathways and intermediates, enabled biodegradation prediction based on characterized microorganisms and enzymes, established analytical methods for WSP characterization, and a critical assessment of the transferability of laboratory tests to realistic scenarios. These outcomes will enable the design of biodegradable high-performance WSPs for a sustainable end-of-life management and pave the way for science-based regulatory advancements – towards a sustainable future, in which challenges are met with innovative chemical solutions and collective action.