ABSTRACT
Porous poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) carriers for the immobilization of white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium have been prepared by the concentrated emulsion polymerization method. The concentrated emulsion consists of a mixture of styrene and divinylbenzene containing a suitable surfactant and an initiator as the continuous phase, and water as the dispersed phase. The polymerization of the monomers of the continuous phase 150generated the polymer carrier with a porous structure. The white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium has been immobilized on porous poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) carriers and used for the batch production and the repeated batch production of lignin peroxidase in shake cultures based on a carbon-limited medium containing veratryl alcohol. The best results were achieved when a spore inoculum was used for immobilization instead of 1-day-old mycelial pellets, for both the batch production and the repeated batch production. The porous poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) immobilized Phanerochaete chrysosporium and freely suspended mycelial pellets were used as biocatalysts for the degradation of 2-chlorophenol in a 2-L bioreactor. The porous poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) particle (diameter ≅ 0.2 cm) immobilized spores exhibited a much higher activity in the degradation of 2-chlorophenol than the freely suspended mycelial pellets. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons.
