Enzyme immobilization has attracted great attention for improving the performance of enzymes in industrial applications. This work was designed to create a new support for

Candida rugosa

lipase (CRL) immobilization. A porous poly(vinyl acetate-divinyl benzene) microsphere coated by a zwitterionic polymer

poly(maleic anhydride-

alt

-1-octadecene) and

N

N

-dimethylethylenediamine derivative

was developed for CRL immobilization via hydrophobic binding. The catalytic activity

reaction kinetics

stabilities and reusability of the immobilized CRL were investigated. It demonstrated the success of the zwitterionic polymer coating and subsequent CRL immobilization on the porous microsphere. The immobilized lipase (p2-MS-CRL) reached 27.6 mg·g

-1

dry carrier and displayed a specific activity 1.5 times higher than free CRL. The increase of

V

max

and decrease of

K

m

were also observed

indicating the improvement of catalytic activity and enzyme-substrate affinity of the immobilized lipase. Besides

p2-MS-CRL exhibited significantly enhanced thermal stability and pH tolerance. The improved performa

nce was considered due to the interfacial activation regulated by the hydrophobic interaction and stabilization effect arisen by the zwitterionic polymer coating. This study has thus proved the advantages of the zwitterionic polymer-coated porous carrier for lipase immobilization and its potential for further development in various enzyme immobilizations.