@article {50053,
	title = {Novel biosurfactant assisted biodegradation of polystyrene by Actinomycetes and its chemical understanding},
	journal = {Polymer Degradation and Stability},
	volume = {246},
	year = {2026},
	month = {APR},
	pages = {111946},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {<p>
	The current study highlights the effective biodegradation of polystyrene by two actinobacterial strains, Glutamicibacter sp. K-1 and Rhodococcus sp. BG-30. FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, and GPC data showed the degradation pattern of polystyrene. Additionally, GC-MS analysis showed that strain K-1 produced a variety of degradation by-products, including alkanes, 2,4-Di-ter-butyl phenol, 2-propenoic acid, tridecyl ester, and dibutyl phthalate, while strain BG-30 produced a greater amount of alkenes, phthalic acid, and isobutyl octyl esters. GPC detected a drop in polystyrene{\textquoteright}s average molecular weight (Mn), which suggests chain scission of the polymer. Changes in polystyrene{\textquoteright}s roughness and other morphological properties were shown by AFM and FE-SEM. The effects of a conventional rhamnolipid and a novel thermostable biosurfactant fatty alkene (0.1 \% each) on the breakdown of polystyrene were examined. Strain K-1 and BG-30 resulted in increasing the degradation of polystyrene to 12 \% (w/w) and 16 \% (w/w), respectively in the presence of fatty alkene biosurfactant, there was 10 \% (w/w) and 8 \% (w/w), degradation in presence of rhamnolipid. To the best of our knowledge, degradation of polystyrene by Glutamicibacter sp. has been reported as a newly identified strain and use of a novel biosurfactant together revealed their potential in biodegradation of plastic to mitigate the plastic pollution using microbial resources.</p>
},
	keywords = {Biodegradation, Fatty alkene biosurfactant, Glutamicibacter sp., Polystyrene, Rhamnolipid, Rhodococcus sp.},
	issn = {0141-3910},
	doi = {10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2026.111946},
	author = {Sakpal, Amrapali and Haq, Nazrul and Dasgupta, Santanu and Alanazi, Fars and Alsarra, Ibrahim A. and Alam, Mahboob and Dastager, Syed G.}
}
