Enhancement of microbial lipase activity via immobilization over sodium titanate nanotubes for fatty acid methyl esters production.

For cost effective fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) production, nanoparticles are used to make microbial lipase more stable and reusable. Sodium titanate nanotubes (TNT) were prepared by simple hydrothermal method for immobilization of different concentrations of lipase. All samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR and HRTEM. Samples of different concentrations of immobilized lipase on titanate nanotubes (TNT-L) were tested for FAME production against free lipase & pure TNT at 40 °C for 90 min. It was found that TNT-L achieved high conversion percentages even at low immobilized lipase concentrations, compared to free lipase. Immobilized lipase on TNT demonstrated enhanced recycling stability for 10 consecutive cycles, suggesting its use for FAME production.