ENZYME IMMOBILIZATION

For the industrial development of biocatalytic processes an effective immobilization method is commonly required to allow the reuse of enzymes or continuous processing. Different strategies have been proposed to immobilize enzymes, based on adsorption, covalent binding, granulation, entrapment in polymers  and cross-linking of enzyme crystals or protein aggregates.


Covalent immobilization has the advantage of forming strong and stable linkages between the enzyme and the carrier that result in robust biocatalysts. Covalent attachment also eliminates the loss of activity caused by enzyme leakage from the support. Different materials, e.g. crosslinked dextrans (Sepharose), polysaccharides (agarose) or porous silica, can be chemically activated by different approaches to covalently attach enzymes.