Degradation of a fullerene end-capped polycaprolactone by lipase AK

Using titrimetric method, enzymatic behavior of lipase AK against fullerene end-capped polycaprolactone (C₆₀-PCL) was studied for the first time, compared with polycaprolactone (PCL). The results showed that degradation of both C₆₀-PCL and PCL by lipase followed Mechaelis-Menten equation, with the degradation parameters of PCL and C₆₀-PCL were 0.75 mg mL^–1 and 0.16 mg mL^–1 for Km, and 0.90 mL h^–1 and 0.43 mL h^–1 for Vmax, respectively. C₆₀-PCL had a slower degradation rate than PCL under the same conditions. These data indicated that the introduction of fullerene enabled PCL hard to be degraded by lipase.