Immobilization of Lecitase^® Ultra onto the Amino-functionalized SBA-15 and their Applications in Glycerolysis

Abstract

In this study, Lecitase^® Ultra (LU) was immobilized onto the parent and the amino-functionalized SBA-15. The immobilization conditions were studied and the activity of the parent SBA-15 supported LU (SBA-15-LU) was found to be at 2177.78 ± 101.84 U/g. After 3-aminopropyl and n-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl groups functionalization, enzymatic activity was increased to 3555.56 ± 200.21 and 3444.44 ± 346.41 U/g respectively. The immobilized LU samples were then used to catalyze glycerolysis. The possibility for diacylglycerols (DAG) and monoacylglycerols (MAG) production was evaluated and it was found only suitable for DAG production. In addition, the glycerolysis activity of the immobilized LU was impaired by the tert-pentanol and solvent-free was found suitable. Similar DAG content over 50 wt% could be obtained from glycerolysis by the three immobilized LU samples. The reusability in glycerolysis was evaluated, and 9.79 % of the initial glycerolysis activity was remained from the SBA-15-LU after 5 cycles of reuse. Encouragingly, after 3-aminopropyl and n-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl groups functionalization, 62.93 and 83.91% of their initial activity was respectively remained after 5 cycles of reuse.