Adsorption of enzymes for biomass degradation to bare and silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles

What is it about?

The macromolecule cellulose is the main component facilitating durability in plants which based on glucose subunits. Enzymes like cellulase are able to cleave the bonds between the subunits and release glucose. With the adsorption of these enzyme on magnetic supports, the cellulases can be recovered and reused in a process. We were able to show that these enzymes can be immobilized without chemicals on low-cost iron oxide nanoparticles which does not decrease the enzymatic activity significantly but increases livetime stability. Furthermore we demonstrated the recovery and reuse of the immobilized enzyme over 10 cycles.

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Why is it important?

The glucose released by enzymes can again be used for the foodindustry or for the production of bioethanol as a sustainable fuel. We showed that it is possible to use a simple method to immobilize enzymes on low-cost magnetic nanoparticles and still preserve a high catalytic activity.