Abstract
Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a biodegradable polymer (an intracellular product) was produced using Bacillus safensis EBT1. A kinetic model that describes microbial growth, biopolymer production and substrate consumption was used to predict the performance of batch fermentation of Bacillus safensis EBT1. The experimental data were fitted with modified logistic equation. The specific growth rate (μmax) and half saturation constant (Ks) values for the models such as Monod, Contois and Herbert were found to be 0.16, 0.15, 0.13 h−1 and 79.51, 68.19, 43.39 g/L respectively. Leudeking-Piret kinetics indicated that PHB formation in this study as growth associated. The recovered polymer was characterized using Transmission Electron Microscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Thermogravimetry analysis and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The PHB produced was used to synthesize nanoparticles using modified nano-precipitation method.
