A QCM-D Study of the Enzymatic Degradation of Cellulose Thin Films

ORAL

Abstract

A sophisticated surface-sensitive technique, the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), was used to study the interaction of a mixture of cellulolytic enzymes from the fungus T. reesei with cellulose thin films deposited onto polycrystalline gold surfaces. It was found that the QCM experiment was sensitive to two processes that occur during the enzyme mixture-cellulose thin film experiment: adsorption of the enzyme to the film surface, and the subsequent degradation of the cellulose thin film. A model describing the measured frequency shift in the QCM data will be described, which gives excellent fits to the experimental data.

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Authors

  • Dan Glickman

    University of Guelph

  • Oleh Tanchak

    Department of Physics, University of Guelph, University of Guelph

  • Michael Reid

    University of Guelph

  • Amanda Quirk

    University of Guelph

  • Darrell Cockburn

    Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, University of Guelph

  • Colin Macdougall

    University of Guelph

  • Anthony Clarke

    University of Guelph, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph

  • Jacek Lipkowski

    Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, University of Guelph

  • John Dutcher

    University of Guelph, Department of Physics, University of Guelph