Biocatalytic membranes assembled from spherical lignin particles

The majority of current enzyme-functionalised membranes rely on petroleum-sourced synthetic polymers and cross-linking chemicals.

There is thus a pivotal need for renewable materials and non-covalent methods to produce membranes with enzymatic functionality.

The purpose of LIGNOMEMB is to gather fundamental scientific knowledge of lignin, an aromatic wood polymer, to enable its use as an enzyme carrier and a building block of membranes.

The first project year will elucidate how properties of spherical lignin particles depend on the molecular weight distribution and chemical functionalities of lignin.

The second year will focus on temporally resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) studies of formation and packing patterns of lignin nanoparticles. At the halfway mark, the project will deliver new methods for non-covalent enzyme immobilisation.

The last two project years will be devoted to establishing processes for using enzyme-loaded lignin particles to fabricate biocatalytic membranes for (i) ester synthesis by entrapped lipase-containing Pickering emulsions; (ii) antifouling membranes equipped with hydrolytic surface activities; (iii) carbon dioxide gas separation membranes based on enclosed carbonic anhydrase.

Overall, LIGNOMEMB will deliver new structural information of lignin particles and generalizable methods for their use as building blocks for enzyme-equipped membranes for environmental applications.