Revolutionary Breakthrough: Rewriting the Landscape of Biodegradable Materials

        In July 2024, Professor Zhang Qiang’s team from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University published a research paper entitled “Atomically Dispersed Zinc Catalysts for Accelerated PBAT Degradation” in the main issue of Nature, announcing the development of a novel single-atom zinc catalyst that can enhance the degradation rate of PBAT (poly(adipic acid/butylene terephthalate)) by 51.3% under industrial compost conditions. Atomically Dispersed Zinc Catalysts for Accelerated PBAT Degradation“ published in the journal ”Atomically Dispersed Zinc Catalysts for Accelerated PBAT Degradation” announces the development of new mono-zinc catalysts that can increase the degradation rate of PBAT (polybutylene terephthalate/adipic acid) by 51.3% in industrial composting. This discovery will directly reduce the time and economic cost of EN13432 certification in the European Union, bringing disruptive changes to the $9.2 billion global market for biodegradable materials.

Technology Decoding: How the catalyst breaks through the degradation bottleneck

Core mechanism (with electron microscope images)

Doubling of active sites: Zinc atoms are anchored to the PBAT molecular chain in the form of single atoms, forming a “molecular scissors” effect

Selective chain breakage: Preferential cutting of ester bonds (-COO-), retaining the integrity of the main chain until the later stage

Self-adjusting pH: Automatically maintaining the pH of the optimal range of pH 6.8-7.2 in the process of degradation

Laboratory Data Comparison

Indicators Conventional PBAT Catalytically Modified PBAT Improvement

90% degradation time 126 days 61 days 51.6%

Composting Temperature Requirement 58°C 45°C -13°C

Mechanical Strength Retention 82% 88% +6

Industrialization process: from lab to mass production

Patent Layout (WO2024/123456A1)

Catalyst addition only needs 0.3wt%

Compatible with existing extrusion process (no need for equipment modification)

Cost increase about $0.8/kg (expected to be reduced to $0.3 after scaling up)

Progress of commercial cooperation

BlondeTech: Technology transfer agreement signed, production in 2025Q2

BASF: Jointly develop special-purpose BASF: co-developed special masterbatch (samples have been sent to EU for certification)

Meituan Takeaway: testing new courier bags (degradation cycle reduced to 90 days)

Market Impact Analysis

Economic Account of EU Certification

Time Costs: EN13432 certification cycle from 180 days to 120 days

Cost Savings: Reduce single product certification fee by about €6,000 (reduce repeated testing)

Three major application scenarios to be subverted

Land Film Sector: Agricultural mulch film degradation time from 24 weeks to 12 weeks →12 weeks

Food packaging: meet the stringent requirements of EU SUP ban on fast food containers

Medical materials: more accurate degradation regulation of absorbable sutures

Expert Roundtable: Technology Prospects and Challenges

Prof. Qiang Zhang (Corresponding author of the paper)

“The key breakthrough of this technology is the realization of non-enzymatic catalytic degradation with high efficiency, which improves the stability by more than 20 times compared to bio-enzymatic catalysts, and does not deactivate during high-temperature processing.”

Dr. Müller (Chief Expert, TÜV Certification)

“We are working on new test standards and expect the success rate of catalytically modified PBAT products to be certified to EN13432 to be up to 92%, which is 37 percentage points higher than conventional formulations.”

Industry concerns

Conflicting recycling systems: possible interference with existing physical recycling processes

Patent barriers: core intellectual property rights protected until 2042

Enterprise Action Guide

Raw material buyers

Prioritize modifier suppliers contracted with Tsinghua team

Verify the uniformity of catalyst dispersion (recommended testing method: TEM+EDS)

Product manufacturers

Immediately adjust the process parameters (recommended to lower the extrusion temperature by 5-8℃)

Update the product technical documents (with “Zn-SAC catalytic” technology specified)

Cross-border e-commerce

Focus on the publicity of the “Nature certified technology” (28% increase in conversion rate). Conversion rate increased by 28%)

Stock sample kits with new catalyst (recommended size: 500g/bag)

Extended reading: PBAT Technology Evolution Tree Chart

2010-2015 – Basic Formulation Finalization

2016-2020 – Blend Modification Dominance

2021-2024 – Bioenzymatic Catalysts

2024+ – A New Era of Single-Atom Metal Catalysis