ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Epoxy functionalized iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles for catalase enzyme covalent immobilization

Ali O. Ali, Korany A. Ali, Yasser E. Shahein, Abeer Shokeer, Hayat M. Sharada, and Mohga S. Abdalla

Molecular Biology Department, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

E-mail: yassershahein_nrc@yahoo.com

Received: 17 November 2021  Accepted: 16 March 2022

Abstract:

An aqueous solution of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles was synthesized using the method of co-precipitation. The nanoparticles were activated with epichlorohydrin for covalently immobilizing the catalase enzyme. The immobilization conditions were optimized as 0.07 mg/ml catalase for 1 h contact time. The properties of free and immobilized catalase were also investigated. The immobilized enzyme showed enhanced activity at alkaline pH and retained about 90% of its relative activity between pH (6–8) and resisted the high temperature and retained 90% of its relative activity at 50 °C. Kinetic parameters of free and immobilized catalase were investigated. While the V_max value of the immobilized enzyme was reduced 2.4 fold compared to the free enzyme, the K_M value of the immobilized catalase was higher by 2.2 fold than the free enzyme. The formulated matrix enhanced the velocity of the immobilized catalase more than the free one and was able to be used for about 18 cycles with retention of 80% of its activity. The immobilized catalase on epoxy functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles is promising as a nano-bio-catalyst carrying out in many industries and different fields.

Keywords: Magnetite; Iron oxide nanoparticles; Epoxy; Immobilized catalase

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-022-02180-6

Chemical Papers 76 (7) 4431–4441 (2022)