Effects of surfactants on enzyme-containing reversed micellar system

With the development of colloid interface and enzyme technologies,enzyme-containing reversed micellar system has been receiving much attention in bioseparation and bioconversion. Because of its high efficiency,it has brought new opportunities for the development of molecular biotechnology. Reversed micelles represent nano-sized aqueous droplets stabilized by surfactant amphiphiles inside the bulk organic solvents. The entrapped enzymes have enhanced activities under those conditions as suited in the lipid bilayers of biological membranes. The fundamentals of enzyme-containing reversed micellar system are described in this paper,with special emphasis on the effects of surfactants varying in concentrations and structures. The latest study progress on the surfactants application in enzyme-containing reversed micelles is reviewed. The introduction of novel functional surfactants in micellar enzymology and their future development are also discussed.

Application of Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) Sulfosuccinate(AOT) /Isooctane Reverse Micellar System in Extraction of Sesame Residue Proteins

[ Objective] To investigate the factors affecting sesame residue protein extraction and find the optimum extraction conditions, [Method ] Sesame residue proteins were extracted with bis（2-ethylhexyl）sulfosuocinate （AOT）/isooctane reverse micellar system. Orthogonal test was used to screen the optimum combination of four factors including sesame residue concentration, pre-extraction pH value, potassium chloride concentration and reverse extraction time. The yield of extracted sesame residue proteins was the indicator to evaluate the efficiency of process. E Result1 The optimum extraction conditions are as follows： sesame residue concentration： 0.06 g/ml; pre-extraction pH value, 3.0; potassium chloride concentration, 1.5 mol/L; and reverse extraction time, 20 min. In the optimum extraction conditions, the extraction rate was up to 86%. [ Coaclusion] Extraction of sesame residue proteins can be well performed with AOT/isooctane reverse micellar system.

TiO_2 thin film photocatalyst

It is well known that the photocatalytic activity of TiO_2 thin filmsstrongly depends on the preparing methods and post-treatment conditions, since they have a decisiveinfluence on the chemical and physical properties of TiO_2 thin films. Therefore, it is necessary toelucidate the influence of the preparation process and post-treatment conditions on thephoto-catalytic activity and surface microstructures of the films. This review deals with thepreparation of TiO_2 thin film photo-catalysts by wet-chemical methods (such as sol-gel,-reversemicellar and liquid phase deposition) and the comparison of various preparation methods as well astheir advantage and disadvantage. Furthermore, it is discussed that the advancement ofphotocatalytic activity, super-hydrophilicity and bactericidal activity of TiO_2 thin filmphotocatalyst in recent years.

Recent Advances in Protein Extraction and Chiral Separation of Biomolecules

Reverse micelles create unique environment in organic media. They are capable of solubilizing hydrophilic biomolecules （e.g., proteins, peptides, amino acids, and DNAs） in their aqueous interior. This feature brings about the practical use of biomaterials in organic media because reverse micelles solubilize them with the intrinsic activity. In this paper, we focus on recent two topics concerning protein extraction and chiral separation of biomolecules using liquid membranes. In the first topic, we present recent attempts to extract proteins from an aqueous solution into isooctane using reverse micelles, and some important operational parameters to achieve an efficient protein transfer are discussed. Furthermore, novel function of reverse micelles as a protein activation medium is introduced. In the reverse micellar phase, denatured proteins were completely reactivated in the reverse micellar solution. The reverse micellar technique is found to be a useful tool not only for protein separation but also for protein refolding. Furthermore, we found that a cyclic ligand carixarene has an extraction ability to set up optimum conditions for protein transfer. In the second topic, we have found that a supported liquid membrane （SLM） encapsulating enzymes shows high enantioselectivity （enantioselective excess value is over 96%） in the transport of racemic pharmaceutical compound ibuprofen. A different experiment also suggests that the α-chymotrypsin-catalyzed reactions droved the enantioselective transport of L-phenylalanine based on the enantioselectivity of the enzyme. The SLM encapsulating the surfactant-enzyme complex enabled the highly enantioselective separation of racemic mixtures. It can be envisioned that arrangement of appropriate enzymes in the SLM system will allow enantioselective separation of various useful organic compounds.