Modulating the performance of lipase-hydrogel microspheres in a “micro water environment”

In our previous work, we successfully stimulated lipase activity in an anhydrous reaction system using porous polyacrylamide hydrogel microsphere (PPAHM) as a carrier of lipase and free water. However, the effect of the existence state and content of water in lipase-porous polyacrylamide hydrogel microsphere (L-PPAHM) on the interfacial activation remained unclear. In this work, L-PPAHM with different water contents were obtained by water mist rehydration and were used to catalyze the synthesis of conjugated linoleic acid ethyl ester (CLA-EE). The results revealed that there were three existence states of water in L-PPAHM: bound water, semi-bound water and free water, and free water provided the "micro water environment" for the interfacial activation of lipase. The reusability of L-PPAHM with different water contents showed that the activity and stability of L-PPAHM could be achieved by varying the water content of L-PPAHM. The proportion of free water in L-PPAHM increased, and the activity of L-PPAHM increased, but the strength of hydrogen bond interaction between PPAHM and lipase weakened, resulting in the decrease of stability. L-PPAHM with 2/3 of water absorption could ensure sufficient immobilized lipase activity and stability, and its water absorption property could reduce the free water generated during esterification, thus increasing the yield of CLA-EE.