Editorial for special issue: enzyme immobilization and its applications

Abstract

Modern chemistry demands cleaner processes, for which more efficient catalysts are required [1,2]. Enzymatic biocatalysis is among the best solutions for this demand of the society [2]. However, enzymes did not fulfil the requirements of industry, and in many instances they need to be improved. While enzyme immobilization was started just to solve the problem of enzyme recovery due to the high price of enzymes, nowadays it has become a system that may permit improvement of many enzyme features, like stability, activity, selectivity, specificity, and even purity [3,4,5,6,7]. The immobilization only will provide full advantages if analyzed in a global way, including the support and the immobilization protocol (including the active groups in the support, the immobilization conditions, and the design of a final end process) [8]. In this way, a proper enzyme immobilization remains a critical step in the industrial design of an enzymatic biocatalyst.