A Novel Hybrid Biocatalyst from Immobilized Eversa® Transform 2.0 Lipase and Its Application in Biolubricant Synthesis

In this study, a Taguchi experimental design was used for optimzing the immobilization of the lipase Eversa (R) Transform 2.0 (EVS) onto a hybrid support consisting of chitosan (CHI) and agarose (AGA), with glutaraldehyde (GLU) used as the support activator. The biocatalyst obtained was characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetry (TGA), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The optimized reaction conditions (60 min, 5 mM ionic strength, 1% GLU concentration, and 5 mg protein load per g of support) resulted in a highly active biocatalyst (74.39 +/- 0.48 U/g) and delivered an immobilization yield of 74.20 +/- 0.28%. The biocatalyst produced was observed to lose only 15.3% of its activity after 61 days of storage. The activity was also observed to increase by 96.70% +/- 0.76, 27.34% +/- 2.34, and 84.35% +/- 1.68 in the presence of the organic solvents hexane, cyclohexane, and methanol, respectively. Additionally, the byocatalist showed more pronounced activity at temperatures above 50 degrees C and was still able to retain approximately 30% of it at 70 degrees C. These values were found to be higher at alkaline pHs, as the activity of Eversa (R) 2.0 Transform saw an increase of up to 140% at pH 9. The desorption tests performed did not reveal any enzymatic detachment from the support. The novel biocatalyst also showed promising ester-lubricating properties. Furthermore, the in silico study revealed a binding affinity of -5.1 kcal/mol between oleic acid and the enzyme, suggesting that the combination of the substrate and the lipase was more stable and therefore, suitable for esterification. [GRAPHICS] .