02/10/2026

Guidelines for preparing, assessing, and implementing immobilized enzymes for biocatalysis: tackling academic, industrial, and environmental aspects

Title: Guidelines for preparing, assessing, and implementing immobilized enzymes for biocatalysis: tackling academic, industrial, and environmental aspects
Authors:

Gkantzou, E; Gerstenberger, J; de María, PD; Andric, P; Bolivar, JM; López-Gallego, F; Kara, S

Journal: Green Chemistry, 2026. DOI: 10.1039/d6gc03525f

Biocatalysis is a primary driver for sustainable chemical manufacturing, yet due to technical hurdles in enzyme stability and recovery, often immobilization is required. Despite the widespread use of heterogeneous biocatalysts, the field suffers from fragmented perspectives and a lack of standardized reporting, which hinders industrial translation and data-driven discovery. This manuscript provides comprehensive guidelines for the design, characterization, and implementation of immobilized enzymes by integrating the specific metrics of biochemists, material scientists, organic chemists, and process engineers. A holistic framework is proposed, encompassing kinetic parameters, material properties like pore size and functional group density, and engineering indicators including space–time yield (STY) and total turnover number (TTN). Furthermore, we align these catalytic performance metrics with industrial feasibility assessments (cost in use) and environmental impact indicators like global warming potential (GWP). By establishing these standardized parameters, this work enables the transition of heterogeneous biocatalysis toward FAIR-compliant data practices and reproducible industrial implementation.