A great advantage of immobilized enzymes is their reusability.
Fig. 5B shows the MP degradation from five consecutive batches
using the same fabric sample. The efficacy of the fabrics declined
slightly after each cycle, as indicated by the increased time required
to completely degrade the pesticide (i.e. degradation time increased
from 30 min for the first use to 120 min for the fifth use). A
similar loss of activity was observed with OpdA immobilized on
polyurethane sponges [11], and may be due to some enzyme
detachment from the fabrics (e.g. by proteolysis of the enzyme)
and/or a gradual loss of OpdA activity during the operation over
the five days.