Kinetic properties of gel-immobilized acid phosphatase in a tubular membrane reactor

Summary Acid phosphatase has been immobilized onto the internal surface of tubular ultrafiltration membranes by two different methods, namely copolymerization/gelation and co-gelation. Rate parameters for p-nitrophenyl phosphate hydrolysis by the enzyme in both gel-immobilization conditions have been determined and compared to the corresponding values obtained in previous work using a flat ultrafiltration membrane. Results indicate that the kinetic properties of the enzyme seems not substantially modified by the membrane geometry; however, for industrial purposes an enzyme reactor equipped with tubular membranes should be preferred.