The epoxy functionalized silica was successfully synthesized.
Covalent immobilization of lipases resulted in significant improvements
of thermal stability and methanol tolerance compared to
the free enzyme. The immobilized lipases were studied for production
of biodiesel by transesterification of canola oil with methanol.
The immobilized TLL exhibited excellent FAME production performance
with high conversion (98% yield) and reusability among all
lipase derivatives. This study shows that immobilization of lipase
on epoxy-functionalized silica has the potential to provide a costefficient
biocatalyst preparation for biodiesel synthesis reactions.