Abstract
Comparative study on the potential of microalgae consortia and green-synthesized silver nanoparticles using microalgae (M-AgNP) consortia for the treatment of kitchen grey water was investigated in this study. The microalgae consortia consisting of four species, viz., Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., Coelastrum sp., and Pediastrum sp. were isolated from a local fish pond and the silver nanoparticles were synthesized with the same. Thus, synthesized silver nanoparticles exhibited a distinctive yellowish-brown colour and spherical morphology. Extensive qualitative and quantitative characterization techniques were employed to determine their size and morphology. Both microalgae consortia and M-AgNP were used separately for the treatment of kitchen grey water under experimental conditions. The synthesized silver nanoparticles demonstrated promising potential for domestic wastewater treatment, leading to substantial reductions in various parameters: total dissolved solids (29.6%), conductivity (49.4%), chemical oxygen demand (64.6%), and heavy metals (arsenic—63.5%, zinc—45.6%, cadmium—88%, copper—60.52%, and lead—80.82%). Notably, microalgae exhibited superior removal efficiency for nitrate (83.1%), sulphate (70.3%), and phosphate (96.5%) compared to microalgae-synthesized silver nanoparticles. This study underscores the effective utilization of both microalgae and microalgae-synthesized silver nanoparticles for wastewater treatment applications.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the study and the supplementary materials are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Abdelfattah A, Ali SS, Ramadan H, El-Aswar EI, Eltawab R, Ho SH, Elsamahy T, Li S, El-Sheekh MM, Schagerl M, Kornaros M, Sun J (2022) Microalgae-based wastewater treatment: mechanisms, challenges, recent advances, and future prospects. Environ Sci Ecotechnology 13:100205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2022.100205
Ajayan KV, Selvaraju M, Thirugnanamurthy K (2011) Growth and heavy metal accumulation potential of microalgae grown in sewage waste water and petrochemical effluents. Pak J Biol Sci 14(16):805–811. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjbs.2011.805.811
Al Ahmed SG (2014) Dairy wastewater treatment using microalgae in Karbala city – Iraq. Int J Environ Ecol Fam Urban Stud 4(2):13–22
Al Jahmani AK, Rao LN, Varghese MJ, Lakavat M, Shaik F (2023) Treatment of kitchen grey water by ceramic filter and optimization using response surface methodology. Mater Today: Proc 80:2366–2374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.06.350
Al-Bahrani RJ, Lakshmanan H, Hassan AA, Sabaratnam V (2017) Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using tree oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus and its inhibitory activity against pathogenic bacteria. Mater Lett 186:21–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2016.09.069
Al-Khiat SH, Bukhari NA, Ameen F, Abdel-Raouf N (2023) Comparison of the microalgae Phormidium tenue and Chlorella vulgaris as biosorbents of Cd and Zn from aqueous environments. Environ Res 235:116675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.116675
Al-Qahtani KM (2017) Cadmium removal from aqueous solution by green synthesis zero valent silver nanoparticles with Benjamina leaves extract. Egypt J Aquat Res 43(4):269–274. https://doi.org/10.1515/biol-2020-0094
Attatsi IK, Nsiah F (2020) Application of silver nanoparticles toward Co (II) and Pb (II) ions contaminant removal in groundwater. Appl Water Sci 10(6):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-020-01240-0
Bahrulolum H, Nooraei S, Javanshir N, Tarrahimofrad H, Mirbagheri VS, Easton AJ, Ahmadian G (2021) Green synthesis of metal nanoparticles using microorganisms and their application in the agrifood sector. J Nanobiotechnology 19:1–26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-021-00834-3
Bellinger EG, Sigee DC (2010) Freshwater algae identification and use as bioindicator. John Wiley and Sons, London, pp 2–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2011.00973.x
Chamberlin J, Harrison K, Zhang W (2018) Impact of nutrient availability on tertiary wastewater treatment by Chlorella vulgaris. Water Environ Res 90(11):2008–2016. https://doi.org/10.2175/106143017x15131012188114
Chan A, Salsali H, McBean E (2014) Heavy metal removal (copper and zinc) in secondary effluent from wastewater treatment plants by microalgae. ACS Sustain Chem Eng 2(2):130–137. https://doi.org/10.1021/sc400289z
Chan SS, Low SS, Chew KW, Ling TC, Rinklebe J, Juan JC, Show PL (2022) Prospects and environmental sustainability of phyconanotechnology: a review on algae-mediated metal nanoparticles synthesis and mechanism. Environ Res 212:113140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.113140
Chaudhary R, Tong YW, Dikshit AK (2018) CO2-assisted removal of nutrients from municipal wastewater by microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus obliquus. Int J Environ Sci Technol 15:2183–2192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1571-0
Choudhary P, Prajapati SK, Kumar P, Malik A, Pant KK (2017) Development and performance evaluation of an algal biofilm reactor for treatment of multiple wastewaters and characterization of biomass for diverse applications. Biores Technol 224:276–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.10.078
Cliff A, Guieysse B, Brown N, Lockhart P, Dubreucq E, Plouviez M (2023) Polyphosphate synthesis is an evolutionarily ancient phosphorus storage strategy in microalgae. Algal Res 73:103161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2023.103161
Dahoumane SA, Mechouet M, Wijesekera K, Filipe CD, Sicard C, Bazylinski DA, Jeffryes C (2017) Algae-mediated biosynthesis of inorganic nanomaterials as a promising route in nanobiotechnology–a review. Green Chem 19(3):552–587. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6GC02346K
Darweesh MA, Elgendy MY, Ayad MI, Ahmed AMM, Elsayed NK, Hammad WA (2022) A unique, inexpensive, and abundantly available adsorbent: composite of synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and banana leaves powder (BLP). Heliyon 8(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09279
Devatha CP, Thalla AK, Katte SY (2016) Green synthesis of iron nanoparticles using different leaf extracts for treatment of domestic wastewater. J Clean Prod 139:1425–1435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.09.019
Eze VC, Velasquez-Orta SB, Hernandez-García A, Monje-Ramírez I, Orta-Ledesma MT (2018) Kinetic modelling of microalgae cultivation for wastewater treatment and carbon dioxide sequestration. Algal Res 32:131–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2018.03.015
Faried M, Shameli K, Miyake M, Hajalilou A, Kalantari K, Zakaria Z, Hara H, Khairudin NBA (2016) Synthesis of silver nanoparticles via green method using ultrasound irradiation in seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii media. Res Chem Intermed 42:7991–8004. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-016-2574-z
Goswami RK, Agrawal K, Verma P (2021) Phycoremediation of nitrogen and phosphate from wastewater using Picochlorum sp.: a tenable approach. J Basic Microbiol 62(3–4):279–295. https://doi.org/10.1002/jobm.202100277
Guilbert JJ (2006) The World Health Report 2006: working together for health. Educ Health (Abingdon, England) 19(3):385–387. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576280600937911
Heshammuddin NA, Al-Gheethi A, Mohamed RMSR, Khamidun MHB (2023) Eliminating xenobiotics organic compounds from greywater through green synthetic nanoparticles. Environ Res 222:115316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.115316
Hussain F, Shah SZ, Ahmad H, Abubshait SA, Abubshait HA, Laref A, Manikandan A, Kusuma HS, Iqbal M (2021) Microalgae an ecofriendly and sustainable wastewater treatment option: biomass application in biofuel and bio-fertilizer production. A review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 137:110603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110603
John J, Francis MS (2012) An illustrated algal flora of Kerala, vol 1. Green Carmel Scientific Books, Cochin, Kerala, India, Idukki District
Karthikeyan P, Mohan D, Abishek G, Priya R (2015) Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Phytoplankton and its characteristics. Int J Fish Aquat Stud 2(6):398–401
Kashyap M, Samadhiya K, Ghosh A, Anand V, Shirage PM, Bala K (2019) Screening of microalgae for biosynthesis and optimization of Ag/AgCl nano hybrids having antibacterial effect. RSC Adv 9(44):25583–25591. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA04451E
Kevin Y, Riti M, Khandaker RM, Cindy G (2022) The impact of silver nanoparticles on microbial communities and antibiotic resistance determinants in the environment. Environ Pollut 293:118506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118506
Khanzada ZT (2020) Phosphorus removal from landfill leachate by microalgae. Biotechnol Rep 25:419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2020.e00419
Kharel HL, Shrestha I, Tan M, Selvaratnam T (2023) Removal of cadmium and lead from synthetic wastewater using Galdieria sulphuraria. Environments 10(10):174. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments10100174
Koo YJ, Pack EC, Lee YJ, Kim HS, Jang DY, Lee SH, Kim YS, Lim KM, Choi DW (2020) Determination of toxic metal release from metallic kitchen utensils and their health risks. Food Chem Toxicol 145:111651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2020.111651
Kumar CP, Sylas VP, Mechery J, Ambily V, Kabeer R, Sunila CT (2023) Phycoremediation of cashew nut processing wastewater and production of biodiesel using Planktochlorella nurekis and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Algal Res 69:102924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2022.102924
Lee SA, Lee OhHM, Ahn CY (2019) Enhanced and balanced microalgal wastewater treatment (COD, N, and P) by interval inoculation of activated sludge. J Microbiol Biotechnol 29(9):1434–1443. https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1905.05034
Mahaffey KR, Corneliussenz PE, Jelinek CF, Fiorino JA (1975) Heavy metal exposure from foods. Environ Health Perspect 12:63. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.751263
Mohammadi M, Mowla D, Esmaeilzadeh F, Ghasemi Y (2019) Enhancement of sulfate removal from the power plant wastewater using cultivation of indigenous microalgae: stage-wise operation. J Environ Chem Eng 7(1):102870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2018.102870
Oteng-Peprah M, Acheampong MA, DeVries NK (2018) Greywater characteristics, treatment systems, reuse strategies and user perception—a review. Water Air Soil Pollut 229(8):1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-018-3909-8
Otondo A, Kokabian B, Stuart-Dahl S, Gude VG (2018) Energetic evaluation of wastewater treatment using microalgae, Chlorella vulgaris. J Environ Chem Eng 6(2):3213–3222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2018.04.064
Palani G, Trilaksana H, Sujatha RM, Kannan K, Rajendran S, Korniejenko K, Marek N, Uthayakumar M (2023) Silver nanoparticles for waste water management. Molecules 28(8):3520. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28083520
Plum LM, Rink L, Haase H (2010) The essential toxin: impact of zinc on human health. Int J Environ Res Public Health 7(4):1342–1365. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7041342
Priya AK, Jalil AA, Vadivel S, Dutta K, Rajendran S, Fujii M, Soto-Moscoso M (2022) Heavy metal remediation from wastewater using microalgae: recent advances and future trends. Chemosphere 305:135375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135375
Priyadharshini SD, Babu PS, Manikandan S, Subbaiya R, Govarthanan M, Karmegam N (2021) Phycoremediation of wastewater for pollutant removal: a green approach to environmental protection and long-term remediation. Environ Pollut 290:117989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117989
Ravikumar Y, Razack SA, Yun J, Zhang G, Zabed HM, Qi X (2021) Recent advances in microalgae-based distillery wastewater treatment. Environ Technol Innov 24:101839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2021.101839
Razzak SA, Ali SAM, Hossain MM, De Lasa H (2017) Biological CO2 fixation with production of microalgae in wastewater – a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 76:379–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.02.038
Real M, Munoz I, Guasch H, Navarro E, Sabater S (2003) The effect of copper exposure on a simple aquatic food chain. Aquat Toxicol 63(3):283–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-445X
Rice EW, Bridgewater L, Association APH (eds) (2012) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (Vol. 10). American Public Health Association, Washington, DC
Santos MS, Silva JM, Barbieri MB, Antunes Filho S, Backx BP (2024) Bionanotechnology and its applications: the plurality of science is fundamental for the search for solutions. Plant Nano Biol 100060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plana.2024.100060
Sathishkumar RS, Sundaramanickam A, Srinath R, Ramesh T, Saranya K, Meena M, Surya P (2019) Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles by bloom forming marine microalgae Trichodesmium erythraeum and its applications in antioxidant, drug-resistant bacteria, and cytotoxicity activity. J Saudi Chem Soc 23(8):1180–1191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jscs.2019.07.008
Selvakumar R, Jothi NA, Jayavignesh V, Karthikaiselvi K, Antony GI, Sharmila PR, Kavitha S, Swaminathan K (2011) As (V) removal using carbonized yeast cells containing silver nanoparticles. Water Res 45(2):583–592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2010.09.034
Shetty P, Supraja N, Garud M, Prasad TNVKV (2014) Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of Alstonia scholaris bark-extract-mediated silver nanoparticles. J Nanostruct Chem 4(4):161–170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40097-014-0132-z
Shittu KO, Ihebunna O (2017) Purification of simulated wastewater using green synthesized silver nanoparticles of Piliostigma thonningii aqueous leave extract. Adv Nat Sci: Nanosci Nanotechnol 8(4):045003. https://doi.org/10.1088/2043-6254/aa8536
Shoener BD, Schramm SM, Beline F, Bernard O, Martínez C, Plosz BG, Snowling S, Steyer JP, Valverde-M B, Wagner D, Guest JS (2019) Microalgae and cyanobacteria modeling in water resource recovery facilities: a critical review. Water Res X 2:100024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wroa.2018.100024
Sibi G (2014) Biosorption of arsenic by living and dried biomass of fresh water microalgae-potentials and equilibrium studies. J Biorem Biodegrad 5(6):249
Souza TAJ, Franchi LP, Rosa LR (2016) Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of silver nanoparticles of different sizes in CHO-K1 and CHO-XRS5 cell lines. Mutat Res- Genet Toxicol Environ Mutagen 795:70–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mrgentox.2015.11.002
Souza TAJ, Souza LRR, Franchi LP (2019) Silver nanoparticles: an integrated view of green synthesis methods, transformation in the environment, and toxicity. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 171:691–700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.12.095
Srimongkol P, Sangtanoo P, Songserm P, Watsuntorn W, Karnchanatat A (2022) Microalgae-based wastewater treatment for developing economic and environmental sustainability: current status and future prospects. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 10:904046. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.904046
Tarannum N, Divya, Gautam YK (2019) Facile green synthesis and applications of silver nanoparticles: a state-of-the-art review. RSC Adv 9:34926–34948. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA04164H
Thamilselvi V, Radha KV (2017) Silver nanoparticle loaded corncob adsorbent for effluent treatment. J Environ Chem Eng 5(2):1843–1854
Torabfam M, Jafarizadeh-Malmiri H (2018) Microwave-enhanced silver nanoparticle synthesis using chitosan biopolymer: optimization of the process conditions and evaluation of their characteristics. Green Process Synth 7(6):530–537. https://doi.org/10.1515/gps-2017-0139
Torabfam M, Yuce M (2020) Microwave-assisted green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using dried extracts of Chlorella vulgaris and antibacterial activity studies. Green Process Synth 9(1):283–293. https://doi.org/10.1515/gps-2020-0024
Trinh VT, Nguyen TMP, Van HT, Hoang LP, Nguyen TV, Ha LT, Vu XH, Pham TT, Nguyen TN, Quang NV, Nguyen XC (2020) Phosphate adsorption by silver nanoparticles-loaded activated carbon derived from tea residue. Sci Rep 10(1):3634. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60542-0
Vargas-Estrada L, Torres-Arellano S, Longoria A, Arias DM, Okoye PU, Sebastian PJ (2020) Role of nanoparticles on microalgal cultivation: a review. Fuel 280:118598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118598
Verma K, Kiran Kumar P, Vijaya Krishna S, Himabindu V (2020) Phycoremediation of sewage-contaminated lake water using microalgae–bacteria co-culture. Water Air Soil Pollut 231(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04652-5
Yao S, Lyu S, An Y, Lu J, Gjermansen C, Schramm A (2019) Microalgae–bacteria symbiosis in microalgal growth and biofuel production: a review. J Appl Microbiol 126(2):359–368. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14095
Ying S, Guan Z, Ofoegbu PC, Clubb P, Rico C, He F, Hong J (2022) Green synthesis of nanoparticles: current developments and limitations. Environ Technol Innov 26:102336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2022.102336
Zhang L, Li X, He R (2015) Chloride-induced shape transformation of silver nanoparticles in a water environment. Environ Pollut 204:145–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.04.018
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to both Dr. A.P. Thomas (Director, ACESSD) and Dr. C.T. Aravindakumar (Director, IUIC), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, for their research help and support. Instrumentation facility support through the schemes like KSCSTE-SARD, DST-FIST, DST-SAIF, DST-PURSE, and RUSA 2.0 Project No.4 is greatly acknowledged here. The International and Interuniversity Centre of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IIUCNN), MG University, is also acknowledged here for their support.
Funding
The financial support through RUSA 2.0 (RUSA MRP No.4), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Govt. of India, is acknowledged here. Partial support of University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India [F.41/2012 (SR)] is also received.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
AB: conceptualization; methodology; investigation; writing—original draft. SVP: conceptualization; visualization; resources; supervision; writing—review and editing. SA: review and data curation. SJ: data curation; software. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval
Not applicable.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
All authors have approved the manuscript for publication.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Guilherme Luiz Dotto
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Bindhuraj, A., Paulose, S.V., Asharaf, S. et al. A comparative study on the treatment of kitchen grey water using microalgae consortia and microalgae-synthesized silver nanoparticles. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33655-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33655-6