Facile immobilization of nitrile hydratase in SBA-15 via a biomimetic coating

Dopamine functionalized mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 (Dop-SBA-15), synthesized by a simple and cost-effective method, was developed as a matrix to immobilize NHase (NHase@Dop-SBA-15). Various characterization techniques such as SEM, TEM, BET and FT-IR were carried out to investigate the properties of Dop-SBA-15 and NHase@Dop-SBA-15. It was shown that the Dop-SBA-15 had highly ordered mesopores and large surface area of 447 m2/g. The activity, thermal stability, pH stability, storage stability, and reusability of NHase@Dop-SBA-15 were studied in detail. It was observed that the performance of NHase@Dop-SBA-15 was improved significantly compared to that of the free NHase and NHase immobilized in unfunctionalized SBA-15. This study provided insight into the preparation of Dop-SBA-15 and its application for NHase immobilization.