Immobilization of horseradish peroxidase on electrospun microfibrous membranes for biodegradation and adsorption of bisphenol A

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) from roots of horseradish (Amoracia rusticana) was successfully immobilized on novel enzyme carriers, poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate) (PMMA CEA) microfibrous membranes, and used for removal of bisphenol A from water. PMMA CEA fibrous membranes (PFM) with fiber diameters of 300-500 nm, were fabricated by electrospinning. HRP was covalently immobilized on the surface of microfibers previously activated by polyethylenimine and glutaraldehyde. HRP loading reached 285 mg/g, and enzyme activity was 70% of free HRP after immobilization. Both stabilities and reusability of HRP were greatly improved after immobilization. After six repeated runs, immobilized HRP retained about 50% of its initial activity. Immobilized HRP exhibited significantly higher removal efficiency for bisphenol A (BPA) in 3 h (93%) compared with free HRP (61%) and PFM alone (42%). The high BPA removal can be resulted by improvement of catalytic activity of immobilized HPR with adsorption on modified PMMA CEA support. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.