PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ALPHA-AMYLASE IMMOBILIZED INORGANIC ORGANIC HYBRID MEMBRANE USING CHITOSAN AS A DISPERSANT IN THE SOL-GEL PROCESS/

A new method for immobilizing a-amylase in a hybrid inorganic/organic membrane has been developed for the purpose of potential applications as a membrane bioreactor in aqueous phase. It has been found that chit osan can act as an enzyme-stabilizing host and a dispersant which can homogeneously mix an inorganic (SiO2) phase and an organic (polymer) p hase. The optimum conditions in preparing the membrane were determined . The resulting microscopically homogeneous membranes were characteriz ed by FT-IR, TGA, and water stability. It was found that the enzyme-in corporated membrane showed a very stable activity for the period of ou r experimental set-up (30 days).