Tailoring mesoporous-silica nanoparticles for robust immobilization of lipase and biocatalysis

The rational design of nano-carriers is critical for modern enzyme immobilization for advanced biocatalysis. Herein, we report the synthesis of octadecylalkyl- modified mesoporous-silica nanoparticles (C18-MSNs) with a high C18 content (~19 wt.%) and tunable pore sizes (1.6–13 nm). It is demonstrated that the increased hydrophobic content and a tailored pore size (slightly larger than the size of lipase) are responsible for the high performance of immobilized lipase. The optimized C18-MSNs exhibit a loading capacity of 711 mg/g and a specific activity 5.23 times higher than that of the free enzyme. Additionally, 93% of the initial activity is retained after reuse five times, which is better than the best performance reported to date. Our findings pave the way for the robust immobilization of lipase for biocatalytic applications.