Macrokinetics and operational stability of immobilized glucose oxidase and catalase

Glucose oxidation by immobilized glucose oxidase (GlO) and catalase (Cat) has been investigated in batch and continuous reactions for operational studies. The macrokinetics of the process depend on coupled reaction steps and diffusion rates. The problem may be approximated by a simple pseudohomogeneous model taking into account both substrates of glucose oxidase and the intermediate reaction product H₂O₂. The effectiveness of both enzymes is enhanced in the coupled reaction path, the overall effectiveness nevertheless is very low. H₂O₂ causes the inactivation of both GlO and Cat. The rates of deactivation depend on the oxidation rates of glucose that give different quasistationary levels of H₂O₂ concentration. As a first approximation, the deactivation rates may be described by first-order reactions with respect to H₂O₂.