Bicontinuous Interfacially Jammed Emulsion Gels for Efficient Enzyme-Catalyzed Conversion of Poorly Water-Soluble Substrate

Enzyme is biocatalyst which has been widely used in bio-industrial processes due to its several advantageous characteristics. However, platform technology for the the enzymatic reaction containing water-insoluble substrate remains undeveloped, because most of the enzymes are active in only aqueous phase. In this study, to expedite the enzymatic reaction, we utilized bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gel (bijel) which has enormous interfacial area between two immiscible liquids. Using tributyrin hydrolysis as a model reaction, we provide evidence that the interfacial area between two immiscible liquids of bijel is a crucial factor for the efficient enzymatic reaction involving poorly water-soluble substrate. Moreover, bijel system showed the 3.91 fold increase in reaction rate than that of biphasic system which is the most common method for the enzymatic conversion of oil-soluble substance. The outcomes indicate that bijel could be a platform material to accelerate the conversion of various hydrophobic materials.