Thesis title: A novel approach for industrial lipases immobilization on graphene oxide nanosheets for Biodiesel production
In recent years, the growing need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and develop more sustainable energy solutions has led to a significant increase in research on biofuels, with a particular focus on biodiesel. This biofuel has emerged as one of the most promising alternatives to conventional diesel. Biodiesel is a produced through the transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats with short-chain alcohols, such as methanol or ethanol, using a catalyst. Although this technology offers numerous advantages, including biodegradability, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and compatibility with existing diesel engines, its production still faces certain limitations related to process efficiency, costs, and feedstock selection (Nazloo et al., 2023).
Currently, biodiesel production mainly relies on homogeneous chemical catalysts, such as NaOH and H₂SO₄, which ensure high reaction rates but require energy- and cost-intensive purification processes. To overcome these limitations, the use of biocatalysts has garnered increasing interest within the scientific community, particularly the application of lipases, which enable the process to be carried out under milder conditions and with greater selectivity (Zhong et al., 2020). However, the use of free lipases presents significant drawbacks, including poor operational stability, sensitivity to organic solvents, and difficulties in reuse, which limit their large-scale application.
To address these challenges, enzyme immobilization technology has been developed, which involves anchoring lipases onto solid supports to enhance their stability, reusability, and resistance to harsh operating conditions. Among the various materials investigated for lipase immobilization, nanomaterials have shown great potential due to their exceptional physicochemical properties, including a high surface area, high reactivity, and the possibility of chemical functionalization to improve enzyme-support interactions (Kumar & Pal, 2021). In particular, graphene oxide (GO) has attracted considerable attention as an innovative platform for enzyme immobilization due to its two-dimensional structure, high surface area, and the presence of oxygenated functional groups, making it an ideal support for lipase anchoring and stabilization (Aghabeigi et al., 2023).
Moreover, the chemical functionalization of GO may further optimizes enzymatic anchoring properties, improving lipase distribution on the surface and increasing their catalytic activity under various operating conditions (Nazloo et al., 2023). This technological advancement makes the immobilization of lipases on GO one of the most promising solutions for industrial-scale biodiesel production, with the potential to overcome the limitations of traditional chemical catalysts and provide an efficient, scalable, and sustainable catalytic platform for advanced biofuel synthesis.