Influence of the Morphology of Core-Shell Supports on the Immobilization of Lipase B from Candida antarctica

• Published in: Molecules
• Main Authors: Martina C. C. Pinto, Denise M. G. Freire, José Carlos Pinto
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2014
• Subjects: core-shell particles; polystyrene; immobilization; lipase B from Candida antarctica; Organic chemistry; QD241-441; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules190812509; https://doaj.org/article/2fa4972fdb2b4ed58dc022aa8652acbd

Core-shell polymer particles with different properties were produced through combined suspension-emulsion polymerizations and employed as supports for immobilization of lipase B from Candida antarctica. In order to evaluate how the morphology of the particles affects the immobilization parameters, empirical models were developed to describe the performance of the biocatalysts as a function of the specific area, volume of pores and average pore diameter of the supports. It was observed that the average pore sizes did not affect the enzymatic activities in the analyzed range of pore sizes. It was also observed that the increase of the specific area (and of the volume of pores) led to higher enzyme loadings, also leading to an increase in the esterification activity, as expected. However, when the specific area (and volume of pores) increased, the hydrolytic activity and the retention of hydrolytic activity of the biocatalysts decreased, indicating the existence of diffusional limitations for some hydrolytic reactions, probably because of the high reaction rates.