Formation of immobilized enzyme beads by radiation and chemical reaction

Cellulase crosslinked by glutaraldehyde was fixed on alumina beads by radiation polymerization of hydrophilic monomers at low temperatures to get immobilized enzyme beads. The immobilized enzyme beads were tested by the enzymatic hydrolysis of the two kinds of cellulosic materials, cellobiose and chaff (insoluble material). The preparation conditions of the immobilized enzyme beads, applied to the pretreatment of cellulosic feed such as chaff are investigated. The enzyme was fixed on the surface of the polymer matrices with porous structure by radiation polymerization using hydrophilic monomers such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate, hydroxypropyl methacrylate etc. Chaff pretreated by electron beam irradiation and subsequent mechanical crushing was hydrolyzed by the immobilized enzyme beads. The hydrolysis conversion yield of cellulose component of chaff was about 50 %. The hydrolysis yield varied with the irradiation dose of the pretreatment, the properties of polymer matrix, and the crosslinking parameters of the enzyme.