Enhancement of catalytic performance of porcine pancreatic lipase immobilized on functional ionic liquid modified Fe3O4-Chitosan nanocomposites

Magnetic chitosan nanocomposites were designed and fabricated by combining the magnetic nanoparticles Fe3O4 and chitosan covalently modified by imidazole-based ionic liquids with various functional groups, to be utilized as a support matrix for immobilization of porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL). Ionic liquids modified chitosan was characterized with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and the nanocomposites were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The enzymatic properties of PPL were significantly improved by immobilization onto all thus prepared nanocomposites, and among the supports, modified with ionic liquids bearing hydroxyl group exhibited relatively enhanced performance. Particularly, the MCS-IL(8C)-OH-PPL exhibited the highest specific activity which was 6.68 times that of free PPL, and the residual activity of MCS-IL(8C)-OH-PPL remarkably maintained 91.5% of its initial activity even after 10 repeated cycles. The residual activity of MCS-IL(8C)-OH-PPL retained 55.8% after incubated in 6 M urea solution for 1 h and maintained the noticeable initial activity of 75.5% after incubated in phosphate buffer at 50 °C with pH 7.5 for 6 h. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that Fe3O4@Chitosan nanocomposites modified with functional ionic liquids could be utilized as a novel nanosupport for enzyme immobilization.