Publications

Find journal articles and other publications about the BOTTLE™ consortium research.

Featured Publications

The effect of the concentration of mesophilic and thermostable enzymes on breaking down polyethylene terephthalate plastics.

Concentration-Dependent Inhibition of Mesophilic PETases on Poly(ethylene Terephthalate) Can Be Eliminated by Enzyme Engineering
ChemSusChem
April 19, 2023
Luisana Avilan, Bruce R. Lichtenstein, Gerhard König, Michael Zahn, Mark D. Allen, Liliana Oliveira, Matilda Clark, Victoria Bemmer, Rosie Graham, Harry P. Austin, Graham Dominick, Christopher W. Johnson, Gregg T. Beckham, John E. McGeehan, Andrew R. Pickford


Illustration showing the changes in the chemical structure of PHAs to achieve chemical circularity.

Chemically Circular, Mechanically Tough, and Melt-Processable Polyhydroxyalkanoates
Science
April 6, 2023
Li Zhou, Zhen Zhang, Changxia Shi, Miriam Scoti, Deepak K. Barange, Ravikumar R. Gowda, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Concept for the upcycling of mixed plastic waste through tandem chemical oxidation and bioconversion.

Mixed Plastics Waste Valorization Through Tandem Chemical Oxidation and Biological Funneling
Science
Oct. 13, 2022
Kevin P. Sullivan, Allison Z. Werner, Kelsey J. Ramirez, Lucas D. Ellis, Jeremy R. Bussard, Brenna A. Black, David G. Brandner, Felicia Bratti, Bonnie L. Buss, Xueming Dong, Stefan J. Haugen, Morgan A. Ingraham, Mikhail O. Konev, William E. Michener, Joel Miscall, Isabel Pardo, Sean P. Woodworth, Adam M. Guss, Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Shannon S. Stahl, Gregg T. Beckham


Simplified scheme of the envisioned closed-loop polyolefin cycle involving catalytic hydrogenolysis of waste plastic to generate ethane, propane, and butane, which can then be dehydrogenated into the corresponding olefins and hydrogen by commercial technologies.

Hydrogenolysis of Polyethylene and Polypropylene Into Propane Over Cobalt-Based Catalysts
Journal of the American Chemical Society Au
Oct. 5, 2022
Guido Zichittella, Amani M. Ebrahim, Jie Zhu, Anna E. Brenner, Griffin Drake, Gregg T. Beckham, Simon R. Bare, Julie E. Rorrer, Yuriy Román-Leshkov


All Publications

2023

Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Mixed Plastic Waste Gasification for Production of Methanol and Hydrogen
Green Chemistry
May 31, 2023
Shaik Afzal, Avantika Singh, Scott R Nicholson, Taylor Uekert, Jason DesVeaux, Eric C. D. Tan, Abhijit Dutta, Alberta Carpenter, Robert Baldwin, Gregg T. Beckham


Dual Recycling of Depolymerization Catalyst and Biodegradable Polyester That Markedly Outperforms Polyolefins
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
April 27, 2023
Xin-Lei Li, Ryan W. Clarke, Hai-Yan An, Ravikumar R. Gowda, Jing-Yang Jiang, Tie-Qi Xu, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Dynamic Crosslinking Compatibilizes Immiscible Mixed Plastics
Nature
April 26, 2023
Ryan W. Clarke, Tobias Sandmeier, Kevin A. Franklin, Dominik Reich, Xiao Zhang, Nayan Vengallur, Tarak K. Patra, Robert J. Tannenbaum, Sabin Adhikari, Sanat K. Kumar, Tomislav Rovis, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


All-Polyhydroxyalkanoate Triblock Copolymers via a Stereoselective-Chemocatalytic Route
ACS Macro Letters
April 24, 2023
Andrea H. Westlie, Sarah A. Hesse, Xiaoyan Tang, Ethan C. Quinn, Celine R. Parker, Christopher J. Takacs, Christopher J. Tassone, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Concentration-Dependent Inhibition of Mesophilic PETases on Poly(ethylene Terephthalate) Can Be Eliminated by Enzyme Engineering
ChemSusChem
April 19, 2023
Luisana Avilan, Bruce R. Lichtenstein, Gerhard König, Michael Zahn, Mark D. Allen, Liliana Oliveira, Matilda Clark, Victoria Bemmer, Rosie Graham, Harry P. Austin, Graham Dominick, Christopher W. Johnson, Gregg T. Beckham, John E. McGeehan, Andrew R. Pickford


Hybrid Monomer Design Synergizing Property Trade-Offs in Developing Polymers for Circularity and Performance
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
April 18, 2023
Changxia Shi, Liam T. Reilly, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Chemically Circular, Mechanically Tough, and Melt-Processable Polyhydroxyalkanoates
Science
April 6, 2023
Li Zhou, Zhen Zhang, Changxia Shi, Miriam Scoti, Deepak K. Barange, Ravikumar R. Gowda, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Installing Controlled Stereo-Defects Yields Semicrystalline and Biodegradable Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) With High Toughness and Optical Clarity
Journal of the American Chemical Society
March 3, 2023
Ethan C. Quinn, Andrea H. Westlie, Ainara Sangroniz, Maria Rosaria Caputo, Shu Xu, Zhen Zhang, Meltem Urgun-Demirtas, Alejandro J. Müller, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Complex Regulation in a Comamonas Platform for Diverse Aromatic Carbon Metabolism
Nature Chemical Biology
Feb. 6, 2023
Rebecca A. Wilkes, Jacob Waldbauer, Austin Caroll, Manuel Nieto-Domínguez, Darren J. Parker, Lichun Zhang, Adam M. Guss, Ludmilla Aristilde


Endowing Polythioester Vitrimer With Intrinsic Crystallinity and Chemical Recyclability
ChemSusChem
Jan. 13, 2023
Changxia Shi, Zhen Zhang, Miriam Scoti, Xiao-Yun Yan, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Technical, Economic, and Environmental Comparison of Closed-Loop Recycling Technologies for Common Plastics
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Jan. 12, 2023
Taylor Uekert, Avantika Singh, Jason S. DesVeaux, Tapajyoti Ghosh, Arpit Bhatt, Geetanjali Yadav, Shaik Afzal, Julien Walzberg, Katrina M. Knauer, Scott R. Nicholson, Gregg T. Beckham, Alberta C. Carpenter


2022

Sourcing Thermotolerant Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Hydrolase Scaffolds From Natural Diversity
Nature Communications
Dec. 21, 2022
Erika Erickson, Japheth E. Gado, Luisana Avilán, Felicia Bratti, Richard K. Brizendine, Paul A. Cox, Raj Gill, Rosie Graham, Dong-Jin Kim, Gerhard König, William E. Michener, Saroj Poudel, Kelsey J. Ramirez, Thomas J. Shakespeare, Michael Zahn, Eric S. Boyd, Christina M. Payne, Jennifer L. DuBois, Andrew R. Pickford, Gregg T. Beckham, John E. McGeehan


Tackling the Catch-22 Situation of Optimizing a Sensor and a Transporter System in a Whole-Cell Microbial Biosensor Design for an Anthropogenic Small Molecule
ACS Synthetic Biology
Dec. 6, 2022
Sang-Min Shin, Ramesh K. Jha, Taraka Dale


Selective Lanthanide-Organic Catalyzed Depolymerization of Nylon-6 to ϵ-Caprolactam
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Nov. 28, 2022
Lukas Wursthorn, Kristen Beckett, Jacob O. Rothbaum, Robin M. Cywar, Clarissa Lincoln, Yosi Kratish, Tobin J. Marks


Synthetic Biodegradable Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs): Recent Advances and Future Challenges
Progress in Polymer Science
November 2022
Andrea H. Westlie, Ethan C. Quinn, Celine R. Parker, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Catalytic Production of Tetrahydropyran (THP): A Biomass-Derived, Economically Competitive Solvent With Demonstrated Use in Plastic Dissolution
Green Chemistry
Nov. 8, 2022
Raka G. Dastidar, Min Soo Kim, Panzheng Zhou, Zaneta Luo, Changxia Shi, Kevin J. Barnett, Daniel J. McClelland, Eugene Y.-X. Chen, Reid C. Van Lehn, George W. Huber


Role of Bifunctional Ru/Acid Catalysts in the Selective Hydrocracking of Polyethylene and Polypropylene Waste to Liquid Hydrocarbons
ACS Catalysis
Oct. 31, 2022
Julie E. Rorrer, Amani M. Ebrahim, Ydna Questell-Santiago, Jie Zhu, Clara Troyano-Valls, Arun S. Asundi, Anna E. Brenner, Simon R. Bare, Christopher J. Tassone, Gregg T. Beckham, Yuriy Román-Leshkov


Mixed Plastics Waste Valorization Through Tandem Chemical Oxidation and Biological Funneling
Science
Oct. 13, 2022
Kevin P. Sullivan, Allison Z. Werner, Kelsey J. Ramirez, Lucas D. Ellis, Jeremy R. Bussard, Brenna A. Black, David G. Brandner, Felicia Bratti, Bonnie L. Buss, Xueming Dong, Stefan J. Haugen, Morgan A. Ingraham, Mikhail O. Konev, William E. Michener, Joel Miscall, Isabel Pardo, Sean P. Woodworth, Adam M. Guss, Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Shannon S. Stahl, Gregg T. Beckham


Alternating Isotactic Polyhydroxyalkanoates via Site- and Stereo-Selective Polymerization of Unsymmetrical Diolides
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Oct. 8, 2022
Zhen Zhang, Changxia Shi, Miriam Scoti, Xiaoyan Tang, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Hydrogenolysis of Polyethylene and Polypropylene Into Propane Over Cobalt-Based Catalysts
Journal of the American Chemical Society Au
Oct. 5, 2022
Guido Zichittella, Amani M. Ebrahim, Jie Zhu, Anna E. Brenner, Griffin Drake, Gregg T. Beckham, Simon R. Bare, Julie E. Rorrer, Yuriy Román-Leshkov


The Role of Binding Modules in Enzymatic Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Hydrolysis at High-Solids Loadings
Chem Catalysis
Aug. 23, 2022
Rosie Graham, Erika Erickson, Richard K. Brizendine, Davinia Salvachúa, William E. Michener, Yaohao Li, Zhongping Tan, Gregg T. Beckham, John E. McGeehan, Andrew R. Pickford


Life Cycle Assessment of Enzymatic Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Recycling
Green Chemistry
Aug. 2, 2022
Taylor Uekert, Jason S. DesVeaux, Avantika Singh, Scott R. Nicholson, Patrick Lamers, Tapajyoti Ghosh, John E. McGeehan, Alberta C. Carpenter, Gregg T. Beckham


Polyolefin Innovations Toward Circularity and Sustainable Alternatives
Macromolecular Rapid Communications
July 30, 2022
Andrea H. Westlie, Eugene Y.-X. Chen, Chris M. Holland, Shannon S. Stahl, Meredith Doyle, Scott R. Trenor, Katrina M. Knauer


Particle Size Reduction of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Increases the Rate of Enzymatic Depolymerization But Does Not Increase the Overall Conversion Extent
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
July 7, 2022
Richard K. Brizendine, Erika Erickson, Stefan J. Haugen, Kelsey J. Ramirez, Joel Miscall, Davinia Salvachúa, Andrew R. Pickford, Margaret J. Sobkowicz, John E. McGeehan, Gregg T. Beckham


Reaction-Mediated Transformation of Working Catalysts
ACS Catalysis
June 21, 2022
Gang Wan, Guanghui Zhang, Johnny Zhu Chen, Michael F. Toney, Jeffrey T. Miller, Christopher J. Tassone


Critical Advances and Future Opportunities in Upcycling Commodity Polymers
Nature
March 30, 2022
Coralie Jehanno, Jill W. Alty, Martijn Roosen, Steven De Meester, Andrew P. Dove, Eugene Y.-X. Chen, Frank A. Leibfarth, Haritz Sardon


The Critical Role of Process Analysis in Chemical Recycling and Upcycling of Waste Plastics
Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
March 23, 2022
Scott R. Nicholson, Julie E. Rorrer, Avantika Singh, Mikhail O. Konev, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Alberta C. Carpenter, Alan J. Jacobsen, Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Gregg T. Beckham


Biochemical and Structural Characterization of an Aromatic Ring–Hydroxylating Dioxygenase for Terephthalic Acid Catabolism
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
March 21, 2022
William M. Kincannon, Michael Zahn, Rita Clare , Jessica Lusty Beech, Ari Romberg, James Larson, Brian Bothner, Gregg T. Beckham, John E. McGeehan, Jennifer L. DuBois


Redesigned Hybrid Nylons With Optical Clarity and Chemical Recyclability
Journal of the American Chemical Society
March 15, 2022
Robin M. Cywar, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Heather B. Mayes, Anjani K. Maurya, Christopher J. Tassone, Gregg T. Beckham, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


A Flexible Kinetic Assay Efficiently Sorts Prospective Biocatalysts for PET Plastic Subunit Hydrolysis
RSC Advances
March 14, 2022
Jessica Lusty Beech, Rita Clare, William M. Kincannon, Erika Erickson, John E. McGeehan, Gregg T. Beckham, Jennifer L. DuBois


Closing the “One Monomer–Two Polymers–One Monomer” Loop via Orthogonal (De)polymerization of a Lactone/Olefin Hybrid
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Jan. 27, 2022
Changxia Shi, Ryan W. Clarke, Michael L. McGraw, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


2021

Electrochemical Activation of C−C Bonds Through Mediated Hydrogen Atom Transfer Reactions
ChemSusChem
Dec. 19, 2021
Bing Yan, Changxia Shi, Gregg T. Beckham, Eugene Y.-X. Chen, Yuriy Román-Leshkov


Design Principles for Intrinsically Circular Polymers With Tunable Properties
Chem
Nov. 11, 2021
Changxia Shi, Liam T. Reilly, V. Sai Phani Kumar, Matthew W. Coile, Scott R. Nicholson, Linda J. Broadbelt, Gregg T. Beckham, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Comparative Performance of PETase as a Function of Reaction Conditions, Substrate Properties, and Product Accumulation
ChemSusChem
Sept. 29, 2021
Erika Erickson, Thomas J. Shakespeare, Felicia Bratti, Bonnie L. Buss, Rosie Graham, McKenzie A. Hawkins, Gerhard König, William E Michener, Joel Miscall, Kelsey J. Ramirez, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Michael Zahn, Andrew R. Pickford, John E. McGeehan, Gregg Beckham


Bio-Based Polymers With Performance-Advantaged Properties
Nature Reviews Materials
Sept. 23, 2021
Robin M. Cywar, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Caroline B. Hoyt, Gregg T. Beckham, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate)
Joule
Sept. 15, 2021
Avantika Singh, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Scott R. Nicholson, Erika Erickson, Jason S. DesVeaux, Andre F.T. Avelino, Patrick Lamers, Arpit Bhatt, Yi Min Zhang, Greg Avery, Ling Tao, Andrew R. Pickford, Alberta C. Carpenter, John E. McGeehan, Gregg T. Beckham


Hydrogenolysis of Polypropylene and Mixed Polyolefin Plastic Waste Over Ru/C To Produce Liquid Alkanes
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
July 27, 2021
Julie E. Rorrer, Clara Troyano-Valls, Gregg T. Beckham, and Yuriy Román-Leshkov


Chemical and Biological Catalysis for Plastics Recycling and Upcycling
Nature Catalysis
July 22, 2021
Lucas D. Ellis, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Kevin P. Sullivan, Maike Otto, John E. McGeehan, Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Nick Wierckx, Gregg T. Beckham


Tandem Chemical Deconstruction and Biological Upcycling of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) to β-Ketoadipic Acid by Pseudomonas putida KT2440
Metabolic Engineering
July 12, 2021
Allison Z. Werner, Rita Clare, Thomas D. Mand, Isabel Pardo, Kelsey J. Ramirez, Stefan J. Haugen, Felicia Bratti, Gara N. Dexter, Joshua R. Elmore, Jay D. Huenemann, George L. Peabody V, Christopher W. Johnson, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Davinia Salvachúa, Adam M. Guss, Gregg T. Beckham


Manufacturing Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated With Plastics Consumption
Joule
March 17, 2021
Scott R. Nicholson, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Alberta C. Carpenter, Gregg T. Beckham


Hybrid Monomer Design for Unifying Conflicting Polymerizability, Recyclability, and Performance Properties
Chem
March 11, 2021
Changxia Shi, Zi-Chen Li, Lucia Caporaso, Luigi Cavallo, Laura Falivene, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Tandem Heterogeneous Catalysis for Polyethylene Depolymerization via an Olefin-Intermediate Process
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Jan. 8, 2021
Lucas D. Ellis, Sara V. Orski, Grace A. Kenlaw, Andrew G. Norman, Kathryn L. Beers, Yuriy Román-Leshkov, Gregg T. Beckham


2020

Conversion of Polyolefin Waste to Liquid Alkanes with Ru-Based Catalysts under Mild Conditions
Journal of the American Chemical Society Au
Dec. 21, 2020
Julie E. Rorrer, Gregg T. Beckham, Yuriy Román-Leshkov


Characterization and Engineering of a Two-Enzyme System for Plastics Depolymerization
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Sept. 28, 2020
Brandon C. Knott, Erika Erickson, Mark D. Allen, Japheth E. Gado, Rosie Graham, Fiona L. Kearns, Isabel Pardo, Ece Topuzlu, Jared J. Anderson, Harry P. Austin, Graham Dominick, Christopher W. Johnson, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Caralyn J. Szostkiewicz, Valérie Copié, Christina M. Payne, H. Lee Woodcock, Bryon S. Donohoe, Gregg T. Beckham, John E. McGeehan


High-Performance Pan-Tactic Polythioesters With Intrinsic Crystallinity and Chemical Recyclability
Science Advances
Aug. 19, 2020
Changxia Shi, Michael L. McGraw, Zi-Chen Li, Luigi Cavallo, Laura Falivene, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


Improving Enzyme Optimum Temperature Prediction With Resampling Strategies and Ensemble Learning
Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling
July 8, 2020
Japheth E. Gado, Gregg T. Beckham, Christina M. Payne


High Chemical Recyclability of Vinyl Lactone Acrylic Bioplastics
Polymer Chemistry
July 1, 2020
Reid A. Gilsdorf, Matthew A. Nicki, Eugene Y.-X. Chen


2019

Combining Reclaimed PET With Bio-based Monomers Enables Plastics Upcycling
Joule
April 17, 2019
Nicholas A. Rorrer, Scott Nicholson, Alberta Carpenter, Mary J. Biddy, Nicholas J. Grundl, Gregg T. Beckham


2018

Characterization and Engineering of a Plastic-Degrading Aromatic Polyesterase
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
April 17, 2018
Harry P. Austin, Mark D. Allen, Bryon S. Donohoe, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Fiona L. Kearns, Rodrigo L. Silveira, Benjamin C. Pollard, Graham Dominick, Ramona Duman, Kamel El Omari, Vitaliy Mykhaylyk, Armin Wagner, William E. Michener, Antonella Amore, Munir S. Skaf, Michael F. Crowley, Alan W. Thorne, Christopher W. Johnson, H. Lee Woodcock, John E. McGeehan, Gregg T. Beckham