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Huang Y, Zhang B, Chen K, Xia A, Zhu X, Zhu X, Liao Q. Temperature-controlled microalgae biofilm adsorption/desorption in a thermo-responsive light-guided 3D porous photo-bioreactor for CO 2 fixation. Environ Res 2023; 216:114645. [PMID: 36323351 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Microalgae biofilm-based culture provides an efficient CO2 reduction and wastewater treatment method for its high photosynthetic efficiency and density. As supporting substrates for microalgae biofilm, porous materials have a big available adsorption area, but mutual shading makes it difficult to transmit external light to the internal surface for attached cells' photosynthesis. Thus, light-guided particles (SiO2) were introduced into photosensitive resin to fabricate a light-guided ordered porous photobioreactor (PBR) by 3D printing technology in this study. The space utilization of the PBR was significantly enhanced and the effective microalgae adsorption area was increased by 13.6 times. Further, a thermo-responsive hydrogel was grafted onto the surface of the substrate to form a smart temperature-controllable interface that could enhance microalgae adsorption and desorption in both directions. When the thermo-responsive layer received light, it would generate heat due to the hydrogel's photo-thermal effect. And the surface temperature would then raise to 33 °C, higher than the hydrogel phase transition point of 32 °C, making the surface shrinking and more hydrophobicity for microalgae cells attachment. The microalgae cells' adsorption capacity increased by 103%, resulting in a high microalgae growth rate of 3.572 g m-2 d-1. When turning off the light, the surface temperature would cool down to below 20 °C, the surface would shrink. And the biofilm shows a 564.7% increase in desorption ability, realizing temperature-controlled microalgae harvesting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Huang
- Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China.
| | - Beiyu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Keming Chen
- Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Ao Xia
- Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Xianqing Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Xun Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
| | - Qiang Liao
- Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
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