Polymeric microencapsulation of the fungal enzyme Laccase, through microfluidic systems, for its potential use as a biocatalyst in wastewater treatment

Abstract

Most human activities that use water produce wastewater and, as the overall demand for water grows, the quantity of wastewater produced and its overall pollution load are continuously increasing worldwide. If wasted water is not properly treated, it may negatively impact the environment and human health, this is one of the reasons why wastewater treatment has become an important worldwide priority during the past decade. However, conventional wastewater treatment technologies, like activated sludge, cannot eliminate these pollutants completely, so enzymatic treatment arises as an alternative method for the treatment of organic micropollutants. Here, we aimed at microencapsulating Laccase, by producing monodisperse alginatebased microcapsules through a droplet-based microfluidic system, and establish the Laccase encapsulation efficiency and its enzymatic activity in different pH and temperature conditions, in order to determine its potential use as a biocatalyst in wastewater treatment. In this sense, it was first aimed to manufacture a microsystem device and determine the best parameters for microcapsule generation, in order to encapsulate the enzyme and determine its immobilization efficiency. Then, the optimum pH and temperature conditions were determined to perform the preliminary tests of the encapsulated Laccase in the microreactor. It is expected to obtain a high percentage of micropollutants removal from the artificial water samples, and also a low loss of enzyme from the microcapsules over time.