Immobilization of biocatalysts for enzymatic polymerizations: Possibilities, advantages, applications

Abstract

a b s t r a c tBiotechnology also holds tremendous opportunities for realizing functional polymeric materials. Biocatalytic pathways to polymeric materials are an emerging research area with not only enormous scientific and technological promise, but also a tremendous impact on environmental issues. Many of the enzymatic polymerizations reported proceed in organic solvents. However, enzymes mostly show none of their profound characteristics in organic solvents and can easily denature under industrial conditions. Therefore, natural enzymes seldom have the features adequate to be used as industrial catalysts in organic synthesis. The productivity of enzymatic processes is often low due to substrate and/or product inhibition. An important route to improving enzyme performance in non-natural environments is to immobilize them.In this review we will first summarize some of the most prominent examples of enzymatic polymerizations and will subsequently review the most important immobilization routes that are used for the immobilization of biocatalysts relevant to the field of enzymatic polymerizations.

Conversion Technologies for the Production of Liquid Fuels and Biochemicals

“…There are also frequent disadvantages, however, including difficult enzyme recovery, low product concentration, low productivity due to substrate and/or product inhibition and, hence, high recovery costs [34]. An important route to improving the performance of enzymes in non-natural environments and their ability to work in continuous processes is to immobilize them by either adsorption, covalent attachment or by incorporation in hydrophobic organic-inorganic hybrid materials [35][36][37][38].…”

Potential Applications of Chitosan Nanoparticles as Novel Support in Enzyme Immobilization

“…A small pore size can cause diffusion limitation resulting in structural rearrangement of the enzymes and subsequent inactivity. However, for very large pore sizes, enzymes can cluster together and thus lose activity (Miletic et al, 2012).…”

Modeling the Effect of pH and Temperature for Cellulases Immobilized on Enzymogel Nanoparticles

“…Other studies have shown that immobilization can hinder or enhance the enzyme efficacy, depending on the specific enzyme and immobilization support combination [13,14]. Immobilization often restricts folding and unfolding of the enzymes leading to changes in how they respond to differences in pH and temperature compared to free enzymes.…”