Improvement in the Cleaning Performance Towards Protein Soils in Laundry Detergents by Protease Immobilization on the Silica Nanoparticles

Abstract

Abstract This work aimed to understand the effect of protease immobilization on silica nanoparticles and how such immobilization affects protease performance as catalysis for enhancing the removal of protein soils. Detergent products contain many components that may affect the free enzyme activity and stability. Various factors such as temperature, pH and humidity are know to affect enzyme activity and cleaning efficiency. Therefore, the effect of enzyme immobilization on the removal of protein based soil was investigated on cotton fabrics as the model soil. The effect of temperature and humidity on the stability of free and immobilized enzyme was compared. It was found that the immobilized enzyme increased cleaning efficiency toward protein soil removal on cotton fabrics, whereas the free enzyme imposed a small effect on the enzymatic activity towards the same soil substrates. In addition, the stability of the immobilized enzyme against temperature and humidity was much higher than its corresponding value by free enzyme.