kids encyclopedia robot

Polyhydroxyalkanoate facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Bacillus subtilis Gram
Certain strains of Bacillus subtilis bacteria can be used to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a biopolymer that is made by bacteria. It can break down naturally (it is biodegradable). PHA has the same qualities of plastic, but it uses renewable raw material such as sugar from crop, instead of finite natural resources such as crude oil, natural gas and coal. Some PHAs share properties with polypropylene, a plastic used to make ropes and packaging. Others are similar to rubber.

Images for kids

  • Polyhydroxyalkanoates

    Chemical structures of P3HB, PHV and their copolymer PHBV

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Polihidroxialcanoato para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Polyhydroxyalkanoate Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.