A High Performance Flocculating Agent and Viscosifiers Based On Cationic Guar Gum

Study of algal biomass harvesting through cationic cassia gum, a natural plant based biopolymer

Green unicellular microalgae have a capacity to entrap CO2 to increase their biomass through photosynthesis and are important for the value added product. The presence of COOH and NH2 groups are responsible for imparting negative zeta value. The present work emphasizes on the synthesis of cationic cassia (CCAS) by the insertion of quaternary amine groups onto the backbone of cassia (CAS) from N-3-Chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (CHPTAC) which was further characterized via FTIR, SEM, elemental analysis and intrinsic viscosity. The optimal dosage of the synthesized cationic cassia is used to flocculate two different green fresh water algae viz. Chlamydomonas sp. CRP7 and Chlorella sp. CB4 were evaluated. 80 and 35 mg L(-1) was optimized dose for dewatering of above algae, respectively.

High-technology materials based on modified polysaccharides

Polysaccharides are abundantly available from farm, forest, and microbial resources. They are used in myriad applications. It has been established in the authors' laboratory that their performance is enhanced considerably on purification, grafting by polyacrylamide (PAM), and subsequent hydrolysis as well as cationization. The most significant performance is enhanced in flocculation where it has been found that the modified polysaccharides outperform existing flocculants in national and international markets. Similar effects are observed in their performance in turbulent drag reduction (DR), percolation, and rheology. The present article outlines the details of materials, mechanisms, and practical applications of these novel materials.