A Kinetic Model Development for Phenol Removal via Enzymatic Polymerization

Enzymatic oxidative polymerization of phenol catalyzed by laccase enzyme extracted from Trametes versicolor ATCC 200801 in an aqueous solution containing acetone was investigated in a batch system. The effects of initial phenol and dissolved oxygen concentrations on the initial reaction rate of oxidative polymerization were experimented. An interactive kinetic model as a function of phenol and dissolved oxygen concentrations was developed for enzymatic polymerization and corresponding bio-kinetic parameters have been evaluated through a non-linear regression program so called SYSTAT 10.0 trial version. The bio-kinetic coefficient of the developed model, which are Vmax, Kmm, KmO2 and k2 were obtained as 0.029 mg DO /L.min, 66.58 mg/L, 0.89 mg/L, and 254 s-1 respectively. The activation energy of oxidative phenol polymerization was calculated as 21.175 kJ/mol.