Improved Performance of Lipase Immobilized on Tannic Acid-Templated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles were synthesized by using tannic acid as a pore-forming agent, which is an environmentally friendly, cheap, and non-surfactant template. SEM and TEM images indicated that the tannic acid-templated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (TA-MSNs) are monodisperse spherical-like particles with an average diameter of 195?±?16 nm. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) results showed that the TA-MSNs had a relatively high surface area (447 m²/g) and large pore volume (0.91 cm³/g), and the mean pore size was ca. 10.1 nm. Burkholderia cepacia lipase was immobilized on the TA-MSNs by physical adsorption for the first time, and the properties of immobilized lipase (BCL@TA-MSNs) were investigated. The BCL@TA-MSNs exhibited satisfactory thermal stability; strong tolerance to organic solvents such as methanol, ethanol, isooctane, n-hexane, and tetrahydrofuran; and high operational reusability when BCL@TA-MSNs were applied in esterification and transesterification reactions. After recycling 15 times in the transesterification reaction for biodiesel production, over 85 % of biodiesel yield can be maintained. With these desired characteristics, the TA-MSNs may provide excellent candidates for enzyme immobilization.