In recent years, self-assembling hydrogels have been shown to have great potential for use in biotechnology, as they enable very efficient immobilization of biocatalysts, especially when used within microreactors. In this work, the basic concepts of microreactors, their advantages over conventional reactors and their potential applications are presented. Different techniques for biocatalyst immobilization in microreactors are described, such as surface immobilization, crosslinking and immobilization on magnetic particles, while self-assembling hydrogels are presented in more detail. The work includes an overview of the methods for the preparation of self-assembling hydrogels and their use in continuous synthesis with enzymatic microreactors.
|