Title: Biocatalytic membrane reactors towards process intensification in biocatalysis and biorefinery
Abstract:
Artificial membranes functionalized with biomolecules are very suitable for the development of biohybrid and biomimetic systems which find application in various fields. The system simulates the biological membrane compartmentalization, where the biological system can be heterogenized inside/on the membrane or simply retained by it and the substrate passage can be regulated by controlled fluid dynamic conditions. Despite the advantages of nature simulation these systems suffer of some issues, which need to be better studied in order to achieve a development on a large scale. The main problems are related to both biomolecule stability as well as membrane cleaning and re-use. In this keynote, an overview of the main application of biocatalytic membrane reactor in biocatalysis and biorefinery will be given together with the main drawbacks, which limits the development of this technology on larger scale. Innovative strategies to solve main problems related to membrane
stability/enzyme re-use will be described (eg. the use of biofunctionalized nanoparticles integrated with membrane for enzyme reuse). A deep understanding of biomolecule immobilization on membrane will be illustrated by using different biomolecule and functionalized membranes, to proof the concept of membrane versatility. Besides, a biocatalytic multiphasic intensified membrane system, able produce and stabilize in a single step phytotherapics will be also described, with the aim to provide alternative strategies for process intensification.
