Room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL)-decorated mesoporous silica SBA-15 for papain immobilization: RTIL increased the amount and activity of immobilized enzyme

Mesoporous materials, especially functionalized ones, have become a promising carrier for enzyme immobilization. We synthesized room temperature ionic liquid-decorated mesoporous SBA-15 (RTIL-SBA-15) for papain immobilization. The results of powder XRD, IR and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms have confirmed that ionic liquid [Simim+][Cl−] was successfully grafted on the surface of SBA-15. As a consequence of the electrostatic attraction between the cation [Simim+] and the negatively charged papain, RTIL-SBA-15 had an advantage over SBA-15 when papain was immobilized at pH = 9.00. The kinetic study showed that the interaction between papain and the carrier was stronger after ionic liquid modification. In the casein hydrolysis, the papain immobilized on RTIL-SBA-15 showed a higher specific activity than that on SBA-15, implying that the ionic liquid [Simim+][Cl−] was beneficial to improve the activity of the immobilized papain. The optimum pH of the immobilized papain was shifted to higher than that of free enzyme.