Immobilized lipase on macroporous polystyrene modified by PAMAM-dendrimer and their enzymatic hydrolysis

•The macroporous polystyrene possessed good biocompatibility and amphiphilic.•High enzyme loading for the abundant reactive sites in the PS-PAMAM dendrimers.•Better enzyme performance because of the spacer in the polymer matrix.•The immobilized lipase possessed excellent reusability.

The novel enzyme carrier, polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers modified macroporous polystyrene, has been synthesized by Michael addition and firstly used in the immobilization of porcine pancreas lipase (PPL) effectively by covalent attachment. The resulting carrier was characterized with the Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental analysis and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. Meanwhile, the amount of immobilized lipase was up to 100 mg g−1 support and the factors related with the enzyme activity were investigated. The immobilization of the PPL improved their performance in wider ranges of pH and temperature. Thermal stability of the immobilized lipase also increased dramatically in comparison with the free ones and the immobilized lipase exhibited a favorable denaturant tolerance. As a biocatalyst, the immobilized lipase for batch hydrolysis of olive oil emulsion retained 85% activity after 10 times of recycling. This well-reusability of immobilized lipase was very valuable and meaningful in enzyme technology.