Synthesis nanoparticles of Fe۳O۴-polymer for anefficient microalgae biomass harvesting

Microalgae have attracted a great interest as a sustainable feedstock for numerous highvaluebioproducts with potential applications in food additives, bioactive compounds,pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries. Microalgae biomass harvesting is the mainbottleneck for downstream processing of microalgae. In this study, the harvesting ofChlorella sorokiniana was investigated by using Fe۳O۴, polyaluminium chloride (PACl) inflocculation process. Additionally, the composite mode of Fe۳O۴/PACl was studied toimprove the microalgae flocculation efficiency. The highest biomass harvesting efficienciesof ۳۷ %, ۸۳ % and ۹۳ % were achieved using Fe۳O۴, PACl and Fe۳O۴/PACl, respectively.Compered to Fe۳O۴ and PACl, the synthesis Fe۳O۴/PACl (at ۱.۵ g/L/۱۰۰ mg/L) had the bestflocculation efficiency in shorter settling time and lower flocculants concentration. This wasassociated with multiple flocculation mechanisms of charge neutralization and bridginginduced by Fe۳O۴ and PACl, respectively