Horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed synthesis of high-quality polyaniline in Good’s buffer ionic liquid-buffered H2O/AOT/isooctane bicontinuous microemulsion

Here, a functionalized organic salt composed of [N k,k,k,k ] + ( k  = 1–4) and [MES] - (2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonate), i.e., Good’s buffer ionic liquid with self-buffering and biocompatible properties, was chosen as electrolyte as well as buffer to construct a H 2 O/AOT/isooctane bicontinuous microemulsion for enzymatic synthesis of polyaniline (PANI). Studies on the effects of the functionalized organic salt on the phase behavior indicate that [N k,k,k,k ][MES] can tune the phase inversion temperature of AOT-stabilized oil-water microemulsion system through changing the cationic alkyl chain length, exhibiting the properties of both inorganic salt and co-alcohol. More interestingly, the stability of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) solubilized in the H 2 O(0.1 M [N 1,1,1,1 ][MES], pH = 4.5)/AOT/isooctane bicontinuous microemulsion is much better than that formulated with mixed surfactants AOT/SB-12 and inorganic salt. Studies on the HRP-catalyzed oxidative polymerization of aniline in the present bicontinuous microemulsion indicates that at low surfactant content and high oil-water ratio, the present microemulsion resulted in a PANI with better conductivity than the counterpart reported elsewhere. This work is of guiding significance for constructing a less-component and enzyme-compatible bicontinuous microemulsion for template-assisted biopolymerization.