Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.38, No.7, 1223-1228, 2015
Harnessing Laccases for the Synthesis ofBisphenol A Biopolymers
Oxidative enzymes like laccases are good candidates for the synthesis of biopolymers. Laccases are able to catalyze polymerization of bisphenol A (BPA) to produce BPA oligomers without addition of extra oxygen or mediators in reaction media. A polymerization protocol has been developed to monitor a time-dependent formation of insoluble BPA polymers. This protocol was further optimized with the help of a Doehlert experimental plan considering two factors, i.e., BPA concentration and enzyme activity. The obtained experimental data were found to be fitted by a modified first-order kinetic model. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments were performed and BPA polymers were identified as small oligomers with C-O bonds between the different constituting units.