Abstract
Biofilm cultivation is considered a promising method to achieve higher microalgae biomass productivity with less water consumption and easier harvest compared to conventional suspended cultivation. However, studies focusing on the selection of substratum material and optimization of the growth of certain microalgae species on specific substratum are limited. This study investigated the selection of membranous and fabric fiber substrata for the attachment of unicellular microalgae Scenedesmus dimorphus and filamentous microalgae Tribonema minus in biofilm cultivation. The results indicated that both algal species preferred hydrophilic membranous substrata and nitrate cellulose/cellulose acetate membrane (CN-CA) was selected as a suitable candidate on which the obtained biomass yields were up to 10.24 and 7.81 g m−2 day−1 for S. dimorphus and T. minus, respectively. Furthermore, high-thread cotton fiber (HCF) and low-thread polyester fiber (LPEF) were verified as the potential fabric fiber substrata for S. dimorphus (5.42 g m−2 day−1) and T. minus (5.49 g m−2 day−1) attachment, respectively. The regrowth of microalgae biofilm cultivation strategy was applied to optimize the algae growth on the fabric fiber substrata, with higher biomass density and shear resistibility achieved for both algal species. The present data highlight the importance to establish the standards for selection the suitable substratum materials in ensuring the high efficiency and sustainability of the attached microalgal biomass production.
Key points
• CN-CA was suitable membranous substratum candidate for algal biofilm cultivation.
• HCF and LPEF were potential fabric fiber substrata for S. dimorphus and T. minus.
• Regrowth biofilm cultivation was effective in improving algal biomass and attachment.
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Data availability
The data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31902344), Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi (Grant No. 2019L0376), and Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Shanxi Agricultural University (Grant No. 2016YJ01).
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CLJ, HW, and TZL conceived and designed the research. CLJ conducted the experiments, collected the data, and prepared the original draft of the manuscript. CLJ, HW, HLC, and CHZ analyzed data. RZL and TZL reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ji, C., Wang, H., Cui, H. et al. Characterization and evaluation of substratum material selection for microalgal biofilm cultivation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 107, 2707–2721 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-023-12475-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-023-12475-7