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Potential microalgae biorefinery cascade: effect of temperature in Nannochloropsis oculata biomass for biofuels and nanoparticles green-synthesis for heavy metals remediation

Research Abstract

Microalgae are potential candidates for biorefinery schemes. They have advantages such as high growth rates, versatility for adaptation, and accumulation of value-added compounds. Moreover, Nannochloropsis oculata is investigated for its potential to accumulate fatty acids with bioenergy potential, especially when cultured under stressful temperature conditions. However, the residual biomass obtained after lipid extraction is generally not exploited; due to this, there is an opportunity to analyze the potential of these wastes to develop different bioproducts approaching biorefinery schemes. This work aims to use N. oculata biomass grown under thermal stress to determine potential biodiesel production. Also, the residual defatted biomass revalorization for nanomaterials synthesis (and its applications) was analyzed. N. oculata cultures have shown a good growth performance under high temperatures (35 °C), being a potential candidate to scale up microalgae cultures under tropical climates. Also, the biomass obtained showed adequate lipid productivity (reaching values for 25 °C of 0.07 ± 0.02 and 35 °C of 0.08 ± 0.01 g L−1 d−1); besides, both fatty acids profiles could be suitable for biodiesel production. Furthermore, residual biomass was valuable for green-synthesis of two different nanoparticles: silver (AgNPs) and iron (nZVI), with sizes between 26 and 320 nm; besides, NPs obtained showed potential for Pb2+ and Cd2+ remediation, reaching up removals of 68.7 ± 0.13 to 100 ± 0.00% for lead, and 16.9 ± 0.53 to 92.5 ± 0.26% for cadmium.

Research Authors
AJ Gárate-Osuna, A Valdez-Ortiz, Ahmad Abo Markeb, X Font, R Barrena, MA Franco-Nava, DU Santos-Ballardo
Research Department
Research Journal
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
Research Pages
21297–21310
Research Publisher
Springer
Research Vol
15
Research Website
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13399-025-06692-5
Research Year
2025