Patent ID: 8574880

Claim:
A method for preparing a biocomposite comprising one or more enzymes comprising the steps of: (a) mixing together (i) an enzyme solution comprising one or more enzymes, (ii) a buffered silicate solution comprising an alkali metal silicate solution or an alkyl siliconate salt solution having a pH 5 to 9, and (iii) an N-containing organic molecule selected from the group consisting of a polyamine, a polyamine modified with hydrophobic functionalities, a polypeptide, or a polypeptide modified with hydrophobic functionalities, (b) simultaneously precipitating the enzymes, the alkali metal silicate or the alkyl siliconate salt, and the N-containing organic molecule from the mixture of the solutions to form a precipitate and a supernatant, and (c) removing the supernatant and recovering the precipitate to obtain a biocomposite comprising said one or more enzymes, wherein said biocomposite retains at least 50% of the enzymes from the initial enzyme solution, and the enzymes in the biocomposite retain at least 50% of the catalytic activities in comparison with that of the initial enzyme solution.