초록
<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Cell immobilization is an efficient technique for achieving high-cell density; it has been shown to benefit acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation. In this study, the biodegradable material, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), was fabricated into plate-like structures by solvent casting (SC) and into fibrous structures by wet jet (WJ) and electrospinning (ES). The BET data showed that the specific surface areas of PHB<SUB>SC</SUB>, PHB<SUB>WJ</SUB>, and PHB<SUB>ES</SUB> were 0.17, 18.30, and 22.45m<SUP>2</SUP>/g, respectively. Butanol yields of 0.25±0.04, 0.28±0.01, and 0.20±0.01g-butanol/g-glucose were obtained for PHB<SUB>SC</SUB>, PHB<SUB>WJ</SUB>, and PHB<SUB>ES</SUB> during batch ABE fermentation. OD<SUB>600</SUB> of fermentation broths that contain PHB<SUB>SC</SUB>, PHB<SUB>WJ</SUB>, and PHB<SUB>ES</SUB> can be used to evaluate the immobilization ability. It was found that while OD<SUB>600</SUB> of fermentation broths without an immobilization material was 12.0±1.6, OD<SUB>600</SUB> of fermentation broths containing PHB<SUB>WJ</SUB> was 4.3±0.3, which was the best for the three PHB materials tested. In summary, a high specific surface area with a pore size up to several hundred microns is recommended. The robustness and stability of PHB as an immobilization material for ABE fermentation was clearly confirmed.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> PHB was fabricated into three structures for ABE fermentation. </LI> <LI> PHB<SUB>WJ</SUB>, having a high porosity and a high specific area, is suitable as the support. </LI> <LI> PHB<SUB>WJ</SUB> for cell immobilization was achieved by the entrapment. </LI> <LI> PHB as immobilization materials is not digestible by <I>C. acetobutylicum</I>. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>