Andriy Voronov, associate professor of coatings and polymeric materials, and Scott Pryor, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, published their recent research in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, a leading journal in general chemistry.
The article, titled "Highly Efficient Phase Boundary Biocatalysis with Enzymogel Nanoparticles," introduces the principally novel mechanism of phase boundary biocatalysis. When being encapsulated, enzyme molecules known as a biocatalyst remain mobile in a soft, polymer carrier and are capable of hydrolyzing insoluble substrates, such as cellulosic biomass, using their highly dynamic behavior and high affinity to both the carrier and substrate.
The unique finding can be explored for localized, highly efficient bioconversion processes, as well as opens a new avenue for a variety of applications, including drug delivery and absorbable implants.
The project’s objectives are to engineer a robust and scalable method for manufacturing nanostructured biocapsules loaded with enzymes for the bioconversion of cellulose and, thus, significantly reduce enzyme cost through recycling and reuse. The uniqueness of these enzymogel nanoparticles is in their ability to protect enzymatic activity, enable simple reuse/recovery of enzymes, and provide an efficient way to regulate enzymatic reactions. It is expected that the developed technology will enhance enzyme efficiency during bioconversion and reduce biocatalyst cost.
With an Impact Factor of 13.734, the Angewandte Chemie, is the leader among the general chemistry journals.
The published manuscript was co-written by Sergiy Minko, professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y.; his students Andriy Zakharchenko and Alexander Tokarev; a group of researchers from the Institute of Polymer Research in Dresden, Germany; and Olena Kudina, graduate student in Voronov’s research group at NDSU.
The project received financial support from National Science Foundation award at Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems Division 0966574.
The article is available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ange.201306831/full.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.