Enzyme-carrying electrospun nanofibers

Compared to other nanomaterials as supports for enzyme immobilization, nanofibers provide a promising configuration in balancing the key factors governing the catalytic performance of the immobilized enzymes including surface area-to-volume ratio, mass transfer resistance, effective loading, and the easiness to recycle. Synthetic and natural polymers can be fabricated into nanofibers via a physical process called electrospinning. The process requires only simple apparatus to operate, yet has proved to be very flexible in the selection of feedstock materials and also effective to control and manipulate the properties of the resulting nanofibers such as size and surface morphology, which are typically important parameters for enzyme immobilization supports. This chapter describes a protocol for the preparation of nanofibrous enzyme, involving the synthesis and end-group functionalization of polystyrene, production of electrospun nanofibers, and surface immobilization of enzyme via covalent attachment.