Polyacrylates contribute significantly to the performance of detergents and cleaning agents. Furthermore, polyacrylates are the main component of maintenance coatings, which have a positive effect on the soiling and cleaning behaviour as well as the service life of resilient floor coverings. ECHA is currently working on a proposal to restrict intentionally added microplastics, which include polymer-containing particles (diameter 1 nm to 5 mm), with the exception of biodegradable polymers.

The aim of the research project is to isolate microorganisms from the environment (e.g. sewage treatment plants, landfills) and to identify enzymes that efficiently degrade polyacrylates and clarify degradation mechanisms by means of special molecular biological or biotechnological procedures (e.g. metagenome and metatranscriptome analysis, bioinformative analysis of enzyme-coding sequences) in combination with activity-based methods.

The classification of the enzymes is based on the reactions they catalyse and provides information on the type of bond they cleave.

Based on the knowledge gained, polyacrylates with chemically and/or enzymatically cleavable bonds in the polymer backbone are synthesised to accelerate microbial or enzymatic degradation.