Immobilized cellulase by polyvinyl alcohol/Fe2O3 magnetic nanoparticle to degrade microcrystalline cellulose

In an attempt to improve the enzymatic efficiency in ball mill, a novel immobilized cellulase on polyvinyl alcohol/Fe2O3 magnetic nanoparticle with high activity was synthesized and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, Zetasizer, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. It was found that the immobilized cellulase was a kind of spherical complex with approximate 270 nm, 4.87 A m2 kg−1, and mainly constructed by the accumulation of 10 nm Fe2O3 nanoparticles with the diffused polymer. When the immobilized cellulase was applied to degrade microcrystalline cellulose by combining with wet ball milling, the yielded glucose was 1.89 mg mL−1, at least three times than the sum of individual yield. The immobilized cellulose maintained 40% activity even after four cycles of reuse. From these results, it can be concluded that the immobilization of cellulase with wet ball milling is a novel method to significantly improve the efficiency of cellulose conversion.