Effective, efficient, and economical conversion technologies are needed to meet the potential of using biobased feedstocks to produce liquid fuels and other high-value chemicals. Enzymatic hydrolysis of plant cell wall structural carbohydrates into soluble and fermentable sugars has been technically achievable for decades. Despite significant advances in the past five years, the economical production and use of cellulase enzymes for biomass hydrolysis remain key hurdles. This is true whether one is seeking hydrocarbons or economical cellulosic ethanol.
The key to conquering these obstacles according to the collaborating PIs Minko of Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY and Voronov and Pryor of North Dakota State University at Fargo rests in placing the enzymes in nanostructured capsules. These carefully designed and fabricated, hybrid organic-inorganic microcapsules are loaded with a cocktail of cellulase enzymes for the conversion of cellulose into fermentable glucose. These unique capsules protect the enzymes and preserve their activity, allow for a simple reuse/recovery process for the enzymes, and provide an opportunity to regulate enzymatic reactions using external signals, such as pH. This enzyme recovery and reuse, facilitated through the encapsulation process and magnetic separation, are expected to have significant impacts on processing costs to produce biomass-derived sugars.
The PIs plan to create a website as a means of sharing data and plans between the research groups at the two universities, and to allow public access to follow aspects of the project. They intend to utilize REU opportunities and high school researchers as a part of their outreach efforts. This is a challenging project for all of the researchers. There are many synthetic chemistry components that all must come together in the fabrication of the encapsulated enzymes. The successful development of reversible encapsulation technology for applications of enzymes would have far-reaching implications in a number of industrial processes and would constitute a significant advance in the field.
