A novel process for the covalent immobilization of laccases on silica gel and its application for the elimination of pharmaceutical micropollutants.

In the present work, pharmaceutical micropollutant degradation by laccase immobilized on silica through an innovative process is proposed. The influence of different parameters on the immobilization conditions was evaluated by a 2 full factorial design, and parameters leading to the highest activity were identified. Under these conditions, laccase activity reached 14 ± 2 U g of silica with a protein immobilization yield of 35%.