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Engineered PET Hydrolase: Plastic Depolymerization

Interactive 3D simulator of an engineered PET hydrolase enzyme (FAST-PETase-style) depolymerizing a solid polyethylene terephthalate lattice: enzymes diffuse to the crystal surface, cleave ester bonds, and release TPA + ethylene glycol monomers. Tune temperature, enzyme loading and polymer crystallinity and watch degradation kinetics follow a real thermal-activity equilibrium model.

Biocatalysis Green Enzyme Synthesis3DModerate60 FPS

This simulator models a real synthetic-biology bioremediation strategy: an engineered PET hydrolase enzyme, of the family that includes FAST-PETase and LCC-ICCG, chewing through a solid block of polyethylene terephthalate one ester bond at a time. Enzyme molecules diffuse in 3D around a lattice representing the polymer, homing in on exposed surface units and cleaving them into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol monomers that drift away as the block visibly erodes. The reaction rate follows the Daniel–Danson equilibrium model — an Arrhenius catalytic term multiplied by a reversible thermal-unfolding term — so the temperature slider produces a genuine activity optimum rather than a monotonic speed-up, while the crystallinity slider reproduces the real-world fact that amorphous PET degrades far faster than crystalline PET.

⚙ Under the hood

Watch an engineered PET hydrolase enzyme (FAST-PETase-style) diffuse over a solid PET polymer lattice and cleave it into TPA and ethylene glycol monomers, with a real Daniel-Danson thermal-activity model governing the rate.

synthetic biologyenzyme kineticsbiocatalysisbioremediationPET recyclingprotein engineering

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install