UJI BIODEGRADASI PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) OLEH BAKTERI TERMOFILIK YANG DIISOLASI DARI SUMBER AIR PANAS BUKIK GADANG, SOLOK, SUMATERA BARAT

Abstract

Plastic is a synthetic polymer compound formed from the polymerization of monomers composed of hydrocarbon bonds. The high use of plastic has an impact on increasing piles of plastic waste, one of the efforts made to reduce this problem is to carry out biodegradation. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of thermophilic bacteria with isolate codes LBKURCC185, LBKURCC186, LBKURCC187, LBKURCC188, LBKURCC189, and LBKURCC190 genus Pseudomonas sp. and Thermus sp. to degrade Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic during an incubation period of 4 weeks using a temperature of 50 oC. This research method is a biodegradation test in Nutrient Agar (NA) and Mineral Salt (MSM) solid media. The bacteria that had the highest percentage of degradation was LBKURCC186 genus Pseudomonas sp., which experienced a decrease in PET weight of 0.85% in the MSM test medium. FTIR results showed a decrease in wave number, bond breaking, and formation of functional groups at O-H, C-H aliphatic, C=O, C=C, and C-O, as well as a change in the percentage value of the transmission. SEM analysis showed that there was damage to the surface of the test PET with the addition of LBKURCC186 bacteria, which made the PET surface uneven; there were cavities and lumps after an incubation period of 4 weeks.