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Magnetophoretic harvesting of freshwater microalgae using polypyrrole/Fe3O4 nanocomposite and its reusability

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Abstract

A magnetophoretic harvesting agent, a polypyrrole/Fe3O4 magnetic nanocomposite, is proposed as a cost and energy efficient alternative to recover biomass of the microalgae Botryococcus braunii, Chlorella protothecoides, and Chlorella vulgaris from their culture media. The maximal recovery efficiency reached almost 99 % for B. braunii, 92.4 % for C. protothecoides, and 90.8 % for C. vulgaris. The maximum adsorption capacity (Q 0) of the magnetic nanocomposite for B. braunii (63.49 mg dry biomass mg−1 PPy/Fe3O4) was higher than that for C. protothecoides (43.91 mg dry biomass mg−1 PPy/Fe3O4) and C. vulgaris (39.98 mg dry biomass mg−1 PPy/Fe3O4). The highest harvesting efficiency for all the studied microalgae were at pH 10.0, and measurement of zeta-potential confirmed that the flocculation was induced by charge neutralization. This study showed that polypyrrole/Fe3O4 can be a promising flocculant due to its high efficacy, low dose requirements, short settling time, its integrity with cells, and with great potential for saving energy because of its recyclability.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the University Sains Malaysia short term grant number 304/PTEKIND/6311074 and FRGS 203/PTEKIND/6711465. Authors also thank Mr. Azmaizan and Mrs. Najmah for their technical support in instrumental analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Industrial Technology, University Sains Malaysia, George Town, Penang, 11800, Malaysia

    S. Hena, N. Fatihah, J. Lalung & S. Y. Jing

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    S. Tabassum

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  1. S. Hena
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  2. N. Fatihah
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  3. S. Tabassum
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  4. J. Lalung
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  5. S. Y. Jing
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Correspondence to S. Hena.

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Hena, S., Fatihah, N., Tabassum, S. et al. Magnetophoretic harvesting of freshwater microalgae using polypyrrole/Fe3O4 nanocomposite and its reusability. J Appl Phycol 28, 1597–1609 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0719-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0719-x

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