Properties of chitosan-immobilized cellulase in ionic liquid

The properties of cellulase that was attached to the surface of the chitosan carrier in aqueous-ionic liquid (IL; 1,3-dimeth-ylimidazolium dimethylphosphate) mixture were studied. The optimal temperature for immobilized cellulase in aqueous-IL mixed solutions was 60 °C. The immobilized cellulase acquired the highest relative activity at a ratio of 1:4 (IL to water, v/v), compared to activity levels of 79% and 7%, when the ratio of IL to water (v/v) was 0:1 and 1:0, respectively. At 80 °C, the immobilized cellulase in the aqueous-IL mixture conserved 46.3% activity after 120 Min. The immobilized cellulase can be effectively reused three times. After 4 weeks, the activity of immobilized cellulase maintained 83.5%. The Michaelis constant (Km ) and maximum reaction velocity (Vm ) values for the immobilized cellulase were 4.8 mg/L and 0.156 mg/(mL Min), respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the properties of chitosan-immobilized cellulase in aqueous-IL.