Enzymatic degradation of p-chlorophenol in a two-phase flow microchannel system.
Enzymatic degradation of p-chlorophenol was carried out in a two-phase flow in a microchannel (100 microm width, 25 microm depth) fabricated on a glass plate (70 mm x 38 mm). This is the first report on the enzymatic reaction in a two-phase flow on a microfluidic device. The surface of the microchannel was partially modified with octadecylsilane groups to be hydrophobic, thus allowing clear phase separation at the end-junction of the microchannel. The enzyme (laccase), which is surface active, was solubilized in a succinic aqueous buffer and the substrate (p-chlorophenol) was in isooctane. The degradation of p-chlorophenol occurred mainly at the aqueous-organic interface in the microchannel. We investigated the effects of flow velocity and microchannel shape on the enzymatic degradation of p-chlorophenol. Assuming that diffusion of the substrate (p-chlorophenol) is the rate-limiting step in the enzymatic degradation of p-chlorophenol in the microchannel, we proposed a simple theoretical model for the degradation in the microchannel. The calculated degradation values agreed well with the experimental data.
Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
Tatsuo
T
Maruyama
Jun-ichi
J
Uchida
Tomohiro
T
Ohkawa
Toru
T
Futami
Koji
K
Katayama
Kei-ichiro
K
Nishizawa
Ken-ichiro
K
Sotowa
Fukiko
F
Kubota
Noriho
N
Kamiya
Masahiro
M
Goto
D000465:Algorithms; D002733:Chlorophenols / Q000737:chemistry*; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D042845:Laccase / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009795:Octanes; D013386:Succinates
D002733:Chlorophenols; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D009795:Octanes; D013386:Succinates; C029107:4-chlorophenol; D042845:Laccase; C045798:2,2,4-trimethylpentane