Abstract
Bentonite is a natural and environmentally clay mineral, and bentonite-derived mesoporous materials (BDMMs) were obtained conveniently from the alkali and acid treatment of bentonite. In the present study, BDMMs were explored for immobilization of laccase obtained from Trametes versicolor. As a result, bentonite-derived mesoporous materials-Laccase (BDMMs-Lac) was developed for the removal of tetracycline (TC). The enzyme immobilization process was carried out through physical adsorption contact (ion exchange adsorption, hydrogen bond adsorption, and Van der waals adsorption) between the BDMMs and laccase. The process of immobilization remarkably increased its operating temperature. The BDMMs-Lac exhibited over 60% removal efficiency for TC within 3 h in the presence of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT). In conclusion, BDMMs-Lac showed more promising potential than free laccase for practical continuous applications.
•BDMMs were expediently obtained from alkali & acid treatment of original bentonite.•Surface areas and average pore sizes of BDMMs were improved nearly by 74 and 2 times.•The thermal stability of BDMMs-Lac was highly improved compared to free laccase.•In the presence of HBT, BDMMs-Lac could remove 60% of TC within 180 min.