Candida rugosa lipase immobilization over SBA-15 to prepare solid biocatalyst for cotton seed oil transesterification

Abstract

For the immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL), mesoporous silica (SBA-15) was synthesized using pluronic acid (P123) as template and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as co-surfactant. Physical adsorption technique was employed to immobilize CRL over SBA-15 and the maximum enzyme adsorption (300 mg g−1) was observed at pH 3. The scanning electron microscopy as well as FTIR analysis of the solid bio catalyst indicate the enzyme immobilization over the SBA surface. The solid bio-catalyst thus obtained was employed as solid biocatalyst for the transesterification of cotton seed oil with methanol to produce fatty acid methyl esters. The reaction was found to follow the pseudo-first order reaction rate law and rate constant and activation energy for the reaction was evaluated to be 9.6 × 10-4 min−1 and 57 kJ mol−1, respectively.