Bio-inspired entrapped laccases for the clean-up of micropollutants in wastewater
(2013) 5th Congress of European Microbiologists – FEMS 2013 — Location: Leipzig (Germany) (21.July.2013)
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- Authors
Agathos, Spiros N. 
- Abstract
- - Background Microbial laccases are powerful enzymes capable of degrading lignin and other recalcitrant compounds. For that reason, there is an increasing interest in these enzymes as biocatalysts for the removal of micropollutants in wastewater, with very promising results so far. However, the establishment of efficient industrial processes greatly depends on the availability of robust, stable and cost-effective immobilized biocatalysts. Recently, a novel immobilization technique based on bio-inspired enzyme entrapment has emerged as a fast and versatile tool for generating robust, cheap and highly stable (nano)biocatalysts, with a very high potential for environmental applications. - Objectives The objective of this work is to produce a robust and highly-stable immobilized biocatalyst by bio-inspired enzyme entrapment suitable for the continuous degradation of a relevant mixture of micropollutants in wastewater. - Methods The enzyme entrapment via bio-inspired mineralization aims to mimic the natural reactions in diatoms, whereby silica precipitation is induced by polypeptides called silaffins. By analogy, different polymers (natural or synthetic) are able to induce the precipitation of different inorganic oxides to form different nanosized structures in which the enzyme is entrapped. This technique was used for the immobilization of laccase from Thielavia sp. to form particles of 50-500 µm with a magnetic core. A continuous reactor with particle retention was set up to test the micropollutant degradation potential of these biocatalysts at laboratory scale. - Conclusions Highly active biocatalysts have been produced using a fast and easy bio-inspired enzyme entrapment technique with a high potential for the degradation of a variety of micropollutants in wastewater.
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Citations
Ardao Palacios, I., Demarche, P., Nair, R., & Agathos, S. N. (2013). Bio-inspired entrapped laccases for the clean-up of micropollutants in wastewater. 5th Congress of European Microbiologists – FEMS 2013, Leipzig (Germany). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/214831