• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.322-325
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• 2013

In the present study, we report that the selection of operation mode is important to take the full advantage of nanofibrous membrane in enzyme immobilization. Silk fibroin nanofibrous membrane has been prepared by electrospinning, and a-chymotrypsin was immobilized as a model enzyme. When the immobilized enzyme was operated in the membrane reactor mode, the Michaelis constant, Km, was lower and the Vmax was higher compared to the batch reactor mode. No concentration gradient was observed in the membrane reactor mode and the immobilized enzyme was stable even after 7 times of re-use. Our results suggests that the enzyme immobilized nanofibrous membrane should be operated in the membrane reactor mode rather than in the bath reactor mode.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.393-403
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• 2021

Enzymes are important class of catalyst for biotransformation. Stability and reusability of enzymes during the catalysis process is a key issue. Activity of enzyme can be enhanced by its immobilization on a suitable substrate by creation of specific microenvironment. A variety of membranes has been used as substrate due to the biocompatibility and simpler method to tune hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity property of the membrane surface. In this review, polymer membranes including cellulose, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyethersulfone (PES) are introduced and discussed in detail. Biodegradation of organic contaminants by immobilized enzyme is an environmental friendly process to reduce the contamination of environment in pharmaceutical company and textile industries. The controlled hydrolysis of oil can be performed in enzyme immobilized membrane bioreactor (EMBR), resulting in reducing carbon emission and reduced environmental pollution. Bioethanol and biodiesel are considered alternative fossil fuels that can be prepared in EMBR.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 1991

The two-stage enzyme reactor, packed with cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) immobilized on Amberite IRA 900, coupled with ultrafiltration membrane was investigated for continuous production of cyclodextrin (CD). 5% (w/v) of soluble starch was partially cyclized, in the 0.1 l first-stage immobilized enzyme reactor, up to CD conversion yield of 10% (w/w) at retention time of 0.56hr and 1.5 units of immobilized CGTase/1g of carrier. In the second stage main immobilized enzyme reactor capacity of 1.5 l, the maximum CD conversion yield of 39% (w/v) was achieved at retention time of 2.8hr and 0.47 unit of CGTase/1 g of carrier. Unreacted residual dextrin was fractionated with ultrafiltration membrane, and then, recycled into the second-stage main bioreactor to increase the CD conversion yield. The most suitable membrane size and the volume concentration ratio (concentrate: filterate) for recycling of unreacted residual dextrin were found to be 5K dalton and 4:6, respectively. CD conversion yield was increased about 3~4% upon co-immobilization of pulluanase along with CGTase. Spent Amberite IRA 900 can be reutilized consecutively more than 3 times for immobilization of CGTase after regeneration.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.269-278
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• 2023

Enzyme Immobilized Membrane Bioreactors (EMBRs) are a novel method to treat dyes within wastewater. Due to their efficacy and high resistance to the environment, there has been a large amount of research being done in this area. There are a variety of ways to approach EMBRs that include both the enzyme itself and the structure of said enzymes. The bioreactor itself can be modified to suit the needs of the dye removal. Ranging from Enzymatic bioreactors to utilizing nanostructures such as graphene oxide or carbon nanotubes. Furthermore, nanoparticles such as TiO₂ can be used to enhance the EMBR further as well. The polymer-based membrane supporting structure also includes a variety of different ways to approach the problem of increasing efficacy. As seen, during the past decades, different approaches to this issue that utilize EMBRs have been done. This review aims to summarize the methodologies and describe the various improvements to EMBRs that have been made.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2011

Enzymatic catalysis has been pursued extensively in a wide range of important chemical processes for their unparalleled selectivity and mild reaction conditions. However, enzymes are usually costly and easy to inactivate in their free forms. Immobilization is the key to optimizing the in-service performance of an enzyme in industrial processes, particularly in the field of non-aqueous phase catalysis. Since the immobilization process for enzymes will inevitably result in some loss of activity, improving the activity retention of the immobilized enzyme is critical. To some extent, the performance of an immobilized enzyme is mainly governed by the supports used for immobilization, thus it is important to fully understand the properties of supporting materials and immobilization processes. In recent years, there has been growing concern in using polymeric materials as supports for their good mechanical and easily adjustable properties. Furthermore, a great many work has been done in order to improve the activity retention and stabilities of immobilized enzymes. Some introduce a spacer arm onto the support surface to improve the enzyme mobility. The support surface is also modified towards biocompatibility to reduce non-biospecific interactions between the enzyme and support. Besides, natural materials can be used directly as supporting materials owning to their inert and biocompatible properties. This review is focused on recent advances in using polymeric materials as hosts for lipase immobilization by two different methods, surface attachment and encapsulation. Polymeric materials of different forms, such as particles, membranes and nanofibers, are discussed in detail. The prospective applications of immobilized enzymes, especially the enzyme-immobilized membrane bioreactors (EMBR) are also discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.260-265
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• 2019

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) (EC 1.1.1.1) was selected as the enzyme which will be immobilized on ultrafiltration membrane by fouling with different transmembrane pressure of 1, 2 and 3 bars. ADH will catalyze formaldehyde (CHOH) to methanol ($CH_3OH$) and simultaneously oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) to $NAD^+$. The concentration of enzyme and pH are fixed at 0.1 mg/ml and pH 7.0 respectively. The objective of the study focuses on the effect of different transmembrane pressure (TMP) on enzyme immobilization in term of permeate flux, observed rejection, enzyme loading and fouling mechanism. The results showed that at 1 bar holds the lowest enzyme loading which is 1.085 mg while 2 bar holds the highest enzyme loading which is 1.357 mg out of 3.0 mg as the initial enzyme feed. The permeate flux for each TMP decreased with increasing cumulative permeate volume. The observed rejection is linearly correlated with the TMP where increase in TMP will cause a higher observed rejection. Hermia model predicted that at irreversible fouling with standard blocking dominates at TMP of 3 bar, while cake layer and intermediate blocking dominates at 1 and 2 bar respectively.