Porous Polysulfone/Activated Carbon Capsules as Scaffolds for Enzyme Immobilization

Enzymes play a vital role in various industrial sectors and are essential components of many products. Hybrid enzyme-polymeric capsules were developed using polysulfone-activated carbon capsules as scaffolds. The polysulfone-activated carbon capsules with an average diameter of 2.55 mm were fabricated by applying a phase inversion precipitation method. An increase in the amount of immobilized enzymes was observed with growth of activated carbon amount in polysulfone matrix. Enzyme immobilization was confirmed by the Bradford method, while Viscozyme® L activity in carboxymethyl cellulose hydrolysis to glucose was measured by the Reducing Sugar DNS method. The recycling of the hybrid Viscozyme® L-polysulfone/activated carbon capsules, and their reuse for subsequent cellulose hydrolysis was investigated and demonstrated repeatability of results.