Immobilization of Candida antarctica B (CALB) in Silica Aerogel: Morphological Characteristics and Stability

Abstract

Enzymes have been extensively used due to their catalytic properties, and immobilization is a promising technique to enhance their catalytic activity and stability. Lipases are enzymes naturally efficient, can be employed for the production of many different molecules, and have a wide range of industrial applications thanks to their broad selectivity. The objective of the present study was to characterize the Candida antarctica B CALB immobilized obtained using the aerogel technique regarding the morphological characteristics of the aerogel silica and its stability. For this purpose, analyzes of XRD, adsorption-desorption isotherms, TGA, SEM, and stability (storage, operational, and thermal) were performed. The supports obtained have an amorphous structure and isotherm type IV. Regarding TGA, two distinct regions were obtained and studied. Aerogels showed an increase in thermal, storage, and operational stability in relation to the free enzyme and demonstrated between 8 and 12 cycles of reuse. The contribution of this work was to present the stability advantages of the immobilized CALB enzyme through the sol-gel technique.