Patent 7435566 was granted and assigned to Kaneka Corporation on October, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The object of this invention is to provide a method for purifying PHA separated from PHA-containing microbial cells in high purity without incurring any serious decrease in molecular weight. The present invention provides a method for purifying a 3-hydroxyalkanoic acid copolymer produced by a microorganism, which comprises treating an aqueous suspension containing the 3-hydroxyalkanoic acid copolymer separated from a microorganism with a hydrogen peroxide while controlling the pH of said aqueous suspension by adding an alkali either continuously or intermittently.