PREPARATION OF PHOTOOXIDIZED MAGNETIC POLYSTYRENE BEADS FOR ENZYME IMMOBILIZATION

Magnetic polystyrene beads were synthesized by a modified suspension polymerization technique. The beads consisted of iron powder entrapped in the polymer backbone. The photooxidation of the magnetic polystyrene beads was achieved under UV irradiation in order to obtain functionalized solid support matrices to be used for the immobilization of urease (EC 3.5.1.5). Enzyme immobilization experiments revealed that unirradiated beads were not suitable for direct coupling reactions. Under similar immobilization conditions, direct covalent linkage of enzyme occurred on photooxidized magnetic polystyrene beads. It is found that this immobilized enzyme is efficient in catalyzing decomposition of urea and the photooxidized magnetic polystyrene beads might bring several interesting applications to downstream separations processes.