Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management Using Integrated Biocatalytic/Bioadsorption Processing

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在测试和建立一种新型生化系统的技术可行性，以高效地从具有工业和环境重要性的水和有机溪流中去除酚类化合物。这些材料是最普遍和最有问题的废物处理和环境补救目标之一。然而，目前的技术只能提供部分有效的治疗，而且实施和使用成本高昂。酪氨酸酶是天然体系中用于酚类化合物转化的重要元素，可从多种来源获得，可用于将酚类化合物氧化为活性中间体的受控过程。在第二个工艺阶段，将开发天然产生的含胺聚合物，如壳聚糖，因为它们能够在与酪氨酸酶催化剂反应和失活之前从产生它们的介质中吸附这些活性中间体。该第一阶段项目的目标是：1)评估酪氨酸酶在使用中的稳定性，并设计出通过固定在吸附聚合物基质中来增强其稳定性的方法，2)确定聚合物基质对苯酚氧化产物的吸附能力，以及3)确定是否可以找到条件来再生该聚合物并保持其酪氨酸酶活性和聚合物的完整性。预计这项工作将确定酪氨酸酶催化剂和生物吸附剂在实际操作条件下多次重复使用的条件，从而为系统开发研究铺平道路。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is structured to test and establish the technical feasibility of a novel biochemical system for the high efficiency removal of phenolic compounds from aqueous and organic streams of industrial and environmental importance. These materials are among the most prevalent and problematic waste treatment and environmental remediation targets. Current technologies, however, provide only partially effective treatment and are costly to implement and use. It is proposed that an enzyme, tyrosinase, which is an important element in natural systems for the transformation of phenolic compounds and which is available from a number of sources, be used in a controlled process for the oxidation of phenols to reactive intermediates. In a second process stage, naturally produced amine-containing polymers such as chitosan are to be developed for their ability to adsorb those reactive intermediates from the medium in which they are produced prior to their reaction with and inactivation of the tyrosinase catalyst. The objectives of this Phase I project are to: 1) assess the in-use stability of tyrosinase and devise means to enhance its stability by immobilization inside the adsorption polymer matrix, 2) determine the adsorption capacity of the polymer matrix for phenol oxidation products, and 3) determine whether conditions can be found to regenerate that polymer and still maintain tyrosinase activity and polymer integrity. It is anticipated that this work will identify conditions for multiple reuses of both the tyrosinase catalyst and bioadsorbants under practical operating conditions and thus pave the way for system development studies.