A new mechanochemical method of enzyme immobilization.

A new mechanochemical method for enzyme immobilization has been elaborated. The principle of this method consists of the following precepts. Partially hydrolyzed nylon fiber, the surface of which is known to be strewn with microcracks, is reversibly stretched (approximately 25%) and placed into an enzyme solution. Then, in the same solution, the fiber is made to relax and is taken out. The fiber retains considerable enzymatic activity even after numerous thorough washings (in a similar procedure without fiber stretching, equivalent washing removed all the enzymatic activity from the fiber). Immobilization on the fiber proceeds due to trapping of enzyme molecules by the microcavities on the surface of the support. The catalytic activity of mechanochemically immobilized chymotrypsin and trypsin is commensurable with their activity on covalent immobilization on nylon (calculated per unit of the macrosurface). A wide range of commercial polymers may be made of use as supports in the mechanochemical method of immobilization.