Immobilization of catalase on electrospun PVA/PA6-Cu(II) nanofibrous membrane for the development of efficient and reusable enzyme membrane reactor

Environ Sci Technol. 2014 Sep 2;48(17):10390-7. doi: 10.1021/es501845u. Epub 2014 Aug 15.

Abstract

In this study, a mat/membrane consisting of overlaid PVA/PA6-Cu(II) composite nanofibers was prepared via the electrospinning technique followed by coordination/chelation with Cu(II) ions; an enzyme of catalase (CAT) was then immobilized onto the PVA/PA6-Cu(II) nanofibrous membrane. The amount of immobilized catalase reached a high value of 64 ± 4.6 mg/g, while the kinetic parameters (Vmax and Km) of enzyme were 3774 μmol/mg·min and 41.13 mM, respectively. Furthermore, the thermal stability and storage stability of immobilized catalase were improved significantly. Thereafter, a plug-flow type of immobilized enzyme membrane reactor (IEMR) was assembled from the PVA/PA6-Cu(II)-CAT membrane. With the increase of operational pressure from 0.02 to 0.2 MPa, the flux value of IEMR increased from 0.20 ± 0.02 to 0.76 ± 0.04 L/m(2)·min, whereas the conversion ratio of H2O2 decreased slightly from 92 ± 2.5% to 87 ± 2.1%. After 5 repeating cycles, the production capacity of IEMR was merely decreased from 0.144 ± 0.006 to 0.102 ± 0.004 mol/m(2)·min. These results indicated that the assembled IEMR possessed high productivity and excellent reusability, suggesting that the IEMR based on electrospun PVA/PA6-Cu(II) nanofibrous membrane might have great potential for various applications, particularly those related to environmental protection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bioreactors*
  • Caprolactam / analogs & derivatives*
  • Caprolactam / chemistry
  • Catalase / metabolism*
  • Catalase / ultrastructure
  • Cattle
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Enzyme Stability
  • Enzymes, Immobilized / metabolism
  • Enzymes, Immobilized / ultrastructure
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / chemistry
  • Kinetics
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Nanofibers / chemistry*
  • Nanofibers / ultrastructure
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Polyvinyl Alcohol / chemistry*
  • Porosity
  • Recycling
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Enzymes, Immobilized
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Polymers
  • nylon 6
  • Caprolactam
  • Copper
  • Polyvinyl Alcohol
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Catalase