Carbon nanotube filled with magnetic iron oxide and modified with polyamidoamine dendrimers for immobilizing lipase toward application in biodiesel production

Superparamagnetic multi-walled carbon nanotubes (mMWCNTs) were prepared by filling multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with iron oxide, and further modified by linking polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers (mMWCNTs-PAMAM) on the surface. Then, mMWCNTs-PAMAM was employed as the carrier and successfully immobilized Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BCL) via a covalent method (BCL-mMWCNTs-G3). The maximum activity recovery of the immobilized lipase was 1,716% and the specific activity increased to 77,460 U/g-protein, 17-fold higher than that of the free enzyme. The immobilized lipase displayed significantly enhanced thermostability and pH-resistance, and could efficiently catalyze transesterification to produce biodiesel at a conversion rate of 92.8%. Moreover, it possessed better recycling performance. After 20 cycles of repeated used, it still retained ca. 90% of its original activity, since the carbon nanotube-enzyme conjugates could be easily separated from the reaction mixture by using a magnet. This study provides a new perspective for biotechnological applications by adding a magnetic property to the unique intrinsic properties of nanotubes.