Removal of aflatoxin M₁ in milk using magnetic laccase/MoS₂/chitosan nanocomposite as an efficient sorbent

The current study tries to find the impact of the integration of laccase enzyme (Lac) onto magnetized chitosan (Cs) nanoparticles composed of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂ NPs) (Fe₃O₄/Cs/MoS₂/Lac NPs) on the removal of AFM₁ in milk samples. The Fe₃O₄/Cs/MoS₂/Lac NPs were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, BET, TEM, FESEM, EDS, PSA, and VSM analysis. The cytotoxic activity of the synthesized nanoparticles in different concentrations was evaluated using the MTT method. The results show that the synthesized nanoparticles don't have cytotoxic activity at concentrations less than 20 mg/l. The ability of the prepared nanoparticles to remove AFM₁ was compared by bare laccase enzyme, MoS₂, and Fe₃O₄/Cs/MoS₂ composite, indicating that the Fe₃O₄/Cs/MoS₂/Lac NPs the highest adsorption efficiency toward AFM₁. Besides, the immobilization efficiency of laccase with a concentration range of 0.5-2.0 was investigated, indicating that the highest activity recovery of 96.8% was obtained using 2 mg/ml laccase loading capacity. The highest removal percentage of AFM₁ (68.5%) in the milk samples was obtained by the Fe₃O₄/Cs/MoS₂/Lac NPs at a contact time of 1 h. As a result, Fe₃O₄/MoS₂/Cs/Lac NPs can potentially be utilized as an effective sorbent with high capacity and selectivity to remove AFM₁ from milk samples.