Microfluidic peroxidase biochip for polyphenol synthesis.
An enzyme-containing microfluidic biochip has been developed for the oxidative polymerization of phenols. The biochip consists of a simple T-junction with two feed reservoirs 20 mm apart and a microreaction channel 30 mm long. The channel is 15 microm deep and 200 microm wide at the center, giving a reaction volume of 90 nL. The biochip was fabricated using conventional photolithographic methods on a glass substrate etched using a HF-based solution. Fluid transport was enabled using electroosmotic flow. Soybean peroxidase was used as the phenol oxidizing catalyst, and in the presence of p-cresol and H(2)O(2), essentially complete conversion of the H(2)O(2) (the limiting substrate) occurred in the microchannel at a flow rate of ca. 290 nL/min. Thus, peroxidase was found to be intrinsically active even upon dramatic scale-down as achieved in microfluidic reactors. These results were extended to a series of phenols, thereby demonstrating that the microfluidic peroxidase reactor may have application in high-throughput screening of phenolic polymerization reactions for use in phenolic resin synthesis. Finally, rapid growth of poly(p-cresol) on the walls of the microreaction channel could be performed in the presence of higher H(2)O(2) concentrations. This finding suggests that solution-phase peroxidase catalysis can be used in the controlled deposition of polymers on the walls of microreactors.
Srinivasan
Aravind
A
Department of Chemical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180, USA.
Wu
Xiaoqiu
X
Lee
Moo-Yeal
MY
Dordick
Jonathan S
JS
D019149:Bioreactors; D002384:Catalysis; D003408:Cresols / Q000737:chemistry*; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005419:Flavonoids; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000737:chemistry; D008904:Miniaturization; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000458:organization & administration; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D009195:Peroxidase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D010636:Phenols / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D059808:Polyphenols; D040081:Protein Array Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012212:Rheology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013025:Glycine max / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology
D003408:Cresols; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized; D005419:Flavonoids; D010636:Phenols; D011108:Polymers; D059808:Polyphenols; C032538:4-cresol; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D009195:Peroxidase