Ultrasonic hyperactivation of cellulase immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles

In the present work, effect of low power, low frequency ultrasound on cellulase immobilized magnetic nanoparticles (cellulase@MNPs) was studied. To gain maximum activity recovery in cellulase@MNPs various parameters viz. ratio of MNPs:cellulase, concentration of glutaraldehyde and cross-linking time were optimized. The influence of ultrasonic power on cellulase@MNPs was studied. Under ultrasonic conditions at 24kHz, 6W power, and 6min of incubation time there was almost 3.6 fold increased in the catalytic activity of immobilized cellulase over the control. Results also indicated that there was improvement in pH and temperature stability of cellulase@MNPs. Furthermore, thermal deactivation energy required was more in cellulase@MNPs than that of the free cellulase. Secondary structural analysis revealed that there were conformational changes in free cellulase and cellulase@MNPs before and after sonication which might be responsible for enhanced activity after ultrasonication. Finally, the influence of ultrasound and cellulase@MNPs for biomass hydrolysis was studied.