Islam Mohammad S, Harnett Cindy K
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Louisville Louisville KY USA.
Eng Life Sci. 2019 Oct 9;19(11):749-758. doi: 10.1002/elsc.201900059. eCollection 2019 Nov.
Enzyme-coated polymeric membranes are versatile catalysts for biofuel production and other chemical production from feedstock, like plant biomass. Such bioreactors are more energy efficient than high temperature methods because enzymes catalyze chemical reactions near room temperature. A major challenge in processing plant biomass is the presence of lignin, a complex aromatic polymer that resists chemical breakdown. Therefore, membranes coated with enzymes such as laccase that can degrade lignin are sought for energy extraction systems. We present an experimental study on optimizing an enzyme-based membrane bioreactor and investigate the tradeoff between high flow rate and short dwell time in the active region. In this work, zero flow rate voltammetry experiments confirm the electrochemical activity of laccase on conductive polymer electrodes, and a flow-through spectroscopy device with laccase-coated porous nylon membranes is used with a colorimetric laccase activity indicator to measure the catalysis rate and percent conversion as a function of reactant flow rate. Membrane porosity before and after laccase coating is verified with electron microscopy.
酶涂层聚合物膜是用于生物燃料生产以及从植物生物质等原料进行其他化学品生产的多功能催化剂。这种生物反应器比高温方法更节能，因为酶在接近室温的条件下催化化学反应。处理植物生物质的一个主要挑战是木质素的存在，木质素是一种复杂的芳香族聚合物，能抵抗化学分解。因此，能量提取系统需要寻找涂有能降解木质素的漆酶等酶的膜。我们进行了一项关于优化基于酶的膜生物反应器的实验研究，并研究了高流速与活性区域短停留时间之间的权衡。在这项工作中，零流速伏安法实验证实了漆酶在导电聚合物电极上的电化学活性，并且使用带有漆酶涂层多孔尼龙膜的流通光谱装置和比色漆酶活性指示剂来测量催化速率和转化率与反应物流速的函数关系。用电子显微镜验证了漆酶涂层前后膜的孔隙率。
