Preliminary Study on Removal of Phenol from Aqueous Solution by Soluble and Immobilized Tyrosinase

An enzymatic method for removal of phenol from model wastewater catalyzed by tyrosinase was studied.Based on investigation of effects on the removal efficiency of phenol using soluble tyrosinase,experiments on removal of phenol were carried out using immobilized tyrosinase,which is obtained by combining entrapment of calcium alginate with crosslinking of glutaraldhyde.The results showed that the removal efficiency of phenol after 4h by treatment with the soluble and immobilized enzyme was 72.3% and 96.0% respectively.The estimated amount of entrapped enzyme was 75.7% of added suluble enzyme,and the immobilized enzyme was repeatedly used for 6 weeks with a decrease of re moval rate by only 3%.It was inferred that products from the enzymatical reaction catalyzed by soluble enzyme could inhibit the enzyme activity.However,reactive micro-environment may be improved by using immobilized enzyme and favourable to heighten the removal efficiency.