Bamboo-Inspired bionic microfluidic Reactor: Construction and application for industrial Biocatalysis.

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Microfluidic biocatalytic reactors are crucial but expensive for industrial use.
• There is a need for cost-effective and environmentally friendly reactor designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a scalable, low-cost, and green microfluidic biocatalytic reactor using delignified bamboo.
• To establish an efficient enzyme immobilization system on the bamboo platform.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing delignified bamboo as a biocompatible, porous platform for enzyme immobilization.
• Optimizing delignification and Schiff base coupling for enzyme attachment.
• Constructing a β-glucosidase-functionalized flow reactor for continuous biotransformation.

Main Results:

• Achieved 90.20% immobilization yield and 95.35% retained enzyme activity.
• Demonstrated a high protein loading capacity of 1.97 U·mg⁻¹.
• Obtained 87.97% substrate biotransformation rate and a 2.4-fold increase in resveratrol concentration within 1 hour.

Conclusions:

• The bamboo-based reactor is simple to prepare and scalable for industrial applications.
• This bionic reactor offers a cost-effective and green solution for continuous phytochemical conversion.
• The developed system shows significant potential for commercial biotransformation processes.