(559c) Measuring Hydrolytic Enzyme Activity with Substrate-Wrapped Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Optimization of Biomass Conversion
AIChE Annual Meeting
2017
2017 Annual Meeting
Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum
Nanobiotechnology for Sensors and Imaging I
Wednesday, November 1, 2017 - 1:06pm to 1:24pm
Because single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) fluoresce in the near-infrared window, they make excellent biosensors for in situ detection. By wrapping SWNT with an amphiphilic polymer, they may be solubilized in water. Conversely, by altering or destroying the wrapping material, SWNT collapse back to aggregate form and their fluorescence is quenched. When wrapped with substrates for hydrolytic enzymes, the SWNT sensors can be used to quantitatively measure hydrolytic enzyme activity (turnover frequency and catalytic efficiency). We have tested SWNT with bovine serum albumin (BSA), potato starch, and pectin to confirm that this is a generalizable method to track hydrolytic activity. We discuss one application of this tool, which is the optimization of a hydrolytic enzyme cocktail for biomass conversion.