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Grafting Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Polystyrene to Enable Self-Assembly and Anisotropic Patchiness
Published on: April 1, 2018
Immobilization of Aspergillus niger cellulase on multiwall carbon nanotubes for cellulose hydrolysis
Razi Ahmad1, Sunil Kumar Khare1
1Enzyme and Microbial Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India.
Abstract:
In present study, Aspergillus niger cellulase was immobilized onto functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) via carbodiimide coupling. MWCNTs offer unique advantages including enhanced electronics properties, a large edge to basal plane ratio, rapid electrode kinetics and it's possess higher tensile strength properties due to their structural arrangements. The immobilization was confirmed by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and SEM (scanning electron microscope). The bionanoconjugates prepared under optimized condition retained 85% activity with improved pH and thermal stability. The t1/2 of immobilized cellulase at 70 °C was four fold higher than free enzyme. The Km value indicates that affinity of bionanoconjugates towards substrate has increased by two times. The preparation could be reused ten times without much loss in enzyme activity. The enhanced catalytic efficiency, stability and reusability makes it useful for efficient cellulose hydrolysis.
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