Applicability of mesoporous silica type SBA-15 as feasible support for the immobilization of Yarrowia lipolytica lipase and Candida antarctica lipase B

Two immobilized biocatalysts were prepared by the adsorption of the lipases from Yarrowia lipolytica (YLL) and Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) on mesoporous support (SBA-15 type). High immobilization yields for both biocatalysts (> 90%) were obtained. CALB-SBA-15 presented a significant recovered activity (about 38% of its theoretical hydrolysis activity). Characterization of SBA-15, before and after enzyme adsorption, was performed to verify the influence of immobilization on the material structure. FTIR analyses evidenced that the enzyme-support interaction was with silanol groups of the support. Elemental analyses evidenced the presence of lipases on SBA-15 since it increased the amount of carbon and nitrogen in the adsorbed materials. The sulfur elemental also appeared in the immobilized samples. Both biocatalysts catalyzed the synthesis of ethyl oleate, but CALB-SBA-15 allowed higher conversion (around 60%) than YLL-SBA-15 (about 20%) after 120 h of reaction. These results show the great applicability of SBA-15 as support for both YLL and CALB immobilization.