Synthesis and functionalization of channel-like mesoporous silica materials to improve enzymatic conversion of cellulose to glucose

Nowadays, the demand for energy is rising faster than anything, accelerating the exhaustion of fossil fuel, which is the most common form of energy source. Meanwhile, the amount of fossil fuels in nature are limited and will be used up at some point in the future, which is why we need another fuel source that is sustainable. Bio-ethanol is an alternate fuel, which can be made from thing that contains glucose. Glucose mostly contained in organic compounds, such as starches, and cellulose is the main compound of grains and edible roots. Using edible material as the main source for bio-ethanol will worsen the food supply of the world. As an alternative source of bio-ethanol, waste product that is high in cellulose, such as by products from the processing of sugar cane, wood chips, and corn cobs. The conversion of cellulose to glucose will be needing an enzyme called cellulase. Despite its high potent, enzymatic reaction is less prefer compared to other processes. This is mainly due to the high production cost of enzymes. That is why every efforts to improve enzyme stability and reusability is important. Nanoporous material, such as mesoporous silica, has the potential for making the enzyme reusable, but research about nanoporous material is still considered little despite of its capabilities. In this research, at first we focus on the synthesis a channel-like mesoporous silica materials with micron size (SBA-15) and nano size (IBN-4). The synthesized materials are functionalized with VTMS (vinyltrimethoxysilane). We will be using the mesoporous silica material to increase the interaction between the enzyme and the nanoporous silica. The synthesis of nanoporous silica will be using P123 as surfactants and TEOS as the source of silica, HCl will be used as solvent. VTMS will be used as organosilane source for silica surface modification. The effect of VTMS concentration on the affinity against enzyme will be studied