Abstract
In order to supplement the need for alternative energy resources within the near future, enhancing the production of biohydrogen with immobilized Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB8052 was investigated. Magnetite nanoparticles were functionalized, with chitosan and alginic acid polyelectrolytes using a layer-by-layer method, to promote bacterial attachment. Cultivating C. beijerinckii with these nanoparticles resulted in a shorter lag growth phase and increased total biohydrogen production within 100-ml, 250-ml and 3.6-L reactors compared with freely suspended organisms. The greatest hydrogen yield was obtained in the 250-ml reactor with a value of 2.1 ± 0.7 mol H2/mol glucose, corresponding to substrate conversion and energy conversion efficiencies of 52 ± 18 and 10 ± 3 %, respectively. The hydrogen yields obtained using the immobilized bacteria are comparable to values found in literature. However, to make this process viable, further improvements are required to increase the substrate and energy conversion efficiencies.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Prof. Patrick C. Hallenbeck for his technical advice throughout the project. Special thanks to Mr. Ranjan Roy for his help with analytical equipment and to Dr. David Liu for his help with TEM imaging. Funding for this research was provided by FRQNT—Project de recherche en équipe. T. Seelert and D. Ghosh were supported by a Eugenie Ulmer Lamothe and FQRNT-PBEEE Scholarships, respectively.
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Trevor Seelert and Dipankar Ghosh contributed equally to this work.
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Seelert, T., Ghosh, D. & Yargeau, V. Improving biohydrogen production using Clostridium beijerinckii immobilized with magnetite nanoparticles. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 4107–4116 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6484-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6484-6