Enzyme Anchoring Amphiphilic Polymer Nanoparticles for Enhanced Pickering Interfacial Biocatalysis

Abstract

Pickering interfacial biocatalysis has been attracting much attention from researchers as the chemical industry needs to become cleaner and more efficient. The key to Pickering interfacial biocatalysis is the preparation of enzyme-loaded particles, which usually involves the modification and functionalization of particles. Although many studies have been reported, the complex modification and functionalization processes involved in these works hinder their application. Herein, we use a one-step method to generate polymer nanoparticles with innate carboxyl functional groups. The wettability of these nanoparticles can be easily adjusted by changing the composition of the polymer. In addition, the enzymes immobilized on nanoparticles show excellent reusability and storage stability with limited activity loss during the immobilization process. When enzyme-loaded nanoparticles were applied to Pickering interfacial biocatalysis, the initial reaction rate could be increased to 2.4-fold that of pristine organic–aqueous biphasic reactions. Furthermore, the small-scale continuous Pickering interfacial biocatalysis sheds some light on the applications of these polymer nanoparticles.