A hierarchical mesoporous zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) was processed based on cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a morphological regulating agent and amino acid (l-histidine) as assisting template agent. Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BCL) was successfully immobilized by ZIF-8 as the carrier via an adsorption method (BCL-ZIF-8). The immobilized lipase (BCL) showed utmost activity recovery up to 1279%, a 12-fold boost in its free counterpart. BCL-ZIF-8 was used as a biocatalyst in the transesterification reaction for the production of biodiesel with 93.4% yield. There was no significant lowering of conversion yield relative to original activity for BCL-ZIF-8 when continuously reused for eight cycles. This work provides a new outlook for biotechnological importance by immobilizing lipase on the hybrid catalyst (ZIF-8) and opens the door for its uses in the industrial field.

Abstract:This study presents a one-step encapsulation method for synthesizing X-shaped zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8) and immobilizing Rhizomucor miehei lipase (RML). We proved that the morphological structure of ZIF-8 had changed after immobilization with enhanced characterization using a field-emission scanning electron microscope, an energy-dispersive spectrometer, a transmission electron microscope, a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, and powder X-ray diffraction. The surface area and pore size of the carrier were investigated before and after immobilization using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda methods, respectively. RML@ZIF-8 exhibited high recovery activity of up to 2632%, representing a 26-fold increase in its free lipase. Encapsulated RML was used for biodiesel production from soybean oil in an isooctane system with a conversion yield of 95.6% under optimum conditions. The resulting reusability of the immobilized enzyme indicated no substantial decline in the conversion yield, which remained at 84.7% of the initial activity after 10 cycles. The stability and high performance of the immobilized enzyme are attributed to the harmony between RML and ZIF-8 based on the easy synthesis of ZIF-8 and the short time required to immobilize RML.

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