A study on the enzymatic properties and reuse of cellulase immobilized with carbon nanotubes and sodium alginate

Abstract

Cellulase has many potential applications in ethanol production, extraction of medicinal ingredients, food, brewing, oil exploration, environmental protection. However, the widespread use of cellulase is limited by its relatively high production costs and low biological activity. Therefore, we studied the enzymatic properties and reusability of cellulase immobilized on multiwalled carbon nanotubes and sodium alginate for the first time. The results showed that the optimum temperature and pH of immobilized cellulase was 40 °C and 3.0, respectively. After 1 month of storage at 4 °C, the enzyme activity of immobilized cellulase dropped to 71.2% of the baseline. Immobilized cellulase was proved to be reusable and maintained ~ 70% of its activity after 7 cycles of repeated use. Versus free cellulase, the immobilized cellulase showed good thermal stability, pH resistance, storage stability and reusability, which could be beneficial in large-scale industrial manufacturing processes.