Enzymes found in nature perform many difficult reactions of interest to clean energy, e.g. the selective conversion of methane to methanol by the enzyme particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO). However, the industrial use of enzymes for large-scale applications, especially with reactions involving gases, has been limited by the low enzyme loading and poor mass transfer characteristics of stirred-tank reactors. Here, we propose a new bioreactor design based on enzymes embedded throughout the depth of a permeable polymer membrane. The polymer membrane allows higher enzyme loadings per volume, separates reactants from products, and enhances mass transfer compared to stirred tanks. We investigate several methods for stabilizing pMMO in the polymer environment and find that creating liposomes is an effective strategy. We demonstrate, for the first time, pMMO activity inside a polymer matrix, a major step toward the new bioreactor design. The selection of the polymer is discussed, including an investigation of block co-polymers with hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains for transport of gas phase reactants and aqueous-phase products, respectively. Finally, the structure of the bioreactor for enhanced mass transfer is described.

Biocatalytic polymer membrane system for selective partial oxidation of methane to methanol

249th National Meeting (2015)

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