title: The catalytic activity enhancement and biodegradation potential of free laccase and novel sol-gel laccase in non-conventional solvents.
abstract: The catalytic activity of free laccase and a novel sol-gel laccase (SOLAC) in ionic liquids and organic solvents was demonstrated by using 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (2,6-DMP) as a substrate. The enhancement of the catalytic activity of the SOLAC was observed and compared to the free laccase in both media. The oxidative biodegradation of o-chlorophenol as a model of phenolic environmental pollutants in organic media shows that the degradation was observed only when using water pre-saturated organic solvents or reverse micelle system. The SOLAC gave higher biodegradation rate in either aqueous or organic solvents, in which the optimum temperature was observed at 40 °C for the reverse micelle system as a reaction medium. All results demonstrated the potential use of the SOLAC for biodegradation of phenolic environmental pollutants in non-conventional media.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Materials and Process Engineering (AMPEN) Laboratory, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nur Atikah
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mohidem
authors.forename: Hanapi Bin
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Mat
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002384:Catalysis; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D042845:Laccase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D044367:Phase Transition; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012997:Solvents; D042845:Laccase