Enzyme Stabilization by Deposition of Silicone Coatings

One of the major limitations that prohibit the more frequent use of biocatalysis in the production of specialty and bulk chemicals is the insufficient long-term stability of commercially available enzyme preparations. Especially stability in terms of enzyme leaching and carrier integrity under process conditions is still an issue. Herein, we report on the fabrication of enzyme preparations of superb mechanical stability and outstanding stability towards leaching. For the first time, such immobilisates have been obtained by deposition of silicone coatings, available from cheap silicone building blocks under simple reaction conditions. Using an immobilized lipase (Novozyme 435) as a model compound, the obtained coated particles showed activity yields of more than 92%. The outstanding robustness has been proven by showing the stability towards mechanical stress and towards enzyme desorption by subjection to an assay mimicking harsh leaching conditions.