Protein-Organoclay Lamellar Nanocomposites

In general, biomolecules such as proteins and enzymes display sophisticated recognition abilities but their commercial viability is often hampered by their fragile structure and lack of long term stability under processing conditions [69]. These problems can be partially overcome by immobilization of the biomolecules on various supports, which provide enhanced stability, repetitive and continuous use, potential modulation of catalytic properties, and prevention of microbial contaminations. Sol-gel and synthetic polymer-based routes for biomolecule encapsulation have been studied extensively and are now well established [70-72]. Current research is also concerned with improving the stability of the immobilized biomolecules, notably enzymes, to increase the scope for exploitation in various 

Layered materials are of special interest for bio-immobilization due to the accessibility of large internal and external surface areas, potential to confine biomolecules within regularly organized interlayer spaces, and processing of colloidal dispersions for the fabrication of protein-clay films for electrochemical catalysis [83-90], These studies indicate that layered materials can serve as efficient support matrices to maintain the native structure and function of the immobilized biomolecules. Current trends in the synthesis of functional biopolymer nano composites based on layered materials (specifically layered double hydroxides) have been discussed in excellent reviews by Ruiz-Hitzky [5] and Duan [6] herein we focus specifically on the fabrication of bio-inorganic lamellar nanocomposites based on the exfoliation and ordered restacking of aminopropyl-functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate (AMP) in the presence of various biomolecules [91]. 

Structural characterization of the biomolecule-AMP lamellar nanocomposites using FTIR and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies showed no change in the 

The enzymatic activities of intercalated GOx-AM P layered nanocomposites at various pH values and temperatures were compared with the native enzyme in aqueous solution. In both cases, characteristic linear plots consistent with Michalis-Menton kinetics were obtained. The Lineweaver-Burk plots indicated that the reaction rates (Vmax) for free and intercalated GOx (3.3 and 4.0 pM min 1 respectively), were comparable, suggesting that the turnover rate at substrate saturation was only marginally influenced by entrapment between the re-assembled organoclay sheets. However, the dissociation constant (Km) associated with the activity of the enzyme was higher for intercalated GOx (6.63 mM) compared to native GOx (2.94 mM), suggesting 

The above studies indicated that intercalation of GOx during re-assembly of exfoliated AMP sheets produced lamellar nanocomposites that retain their 

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Patil, A.J., Muthusamy, E. and Mann, S. (2005) Fabrication of functional protein-organoclay lamellar nanocomposites by biomolecule-induced assembly of exfoliated aminopropyl-functionalized magnesium phyllosilicates. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 15, 3838-3843. 

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