(729g) Preparation of Microalgal EPS/PVA Blend Nanofibers for Waste Water Remediation

Preparation of microalgal EPS/PVA
blend nanofibers for waste water remediation

Adarsh P. Bafana¹,
Shishir V. Kumar¹, Prasad Pawar¹,
Ashiqur Rahman¹, Si Amar Dahoumane²,
Clayton S. Jeffryes^1,3*

¹Nanobiomaterials and
Bioprocessing Laboratory (NABLAB), Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical
Engineering, Lamar University, PO Box 10051, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA.
cjeffryes@lamar.edu

²School of Biological
Sciences & Engineering, Yachay Tech University,
Hacienda San José s/n, San Miguel de Urcuquí 100119,
Ecuador. sdahoumane@yachaytech.edu.ec

³Center for Advances in Water & Air Quality, Lamar University, 211
Redbird Ln. Box 10888, Beaumont, TX 77710-0088, USA.

*Corresponding author

ABSTRACT:

Electrospun nanofibers can be used to form
membranes that find applications in various fields such as wastewater
remediation, textile industries, biomedical industries and polymeric batteries.
Electrospinning is a cost effective, rapid, simple and, dependent on starting
materials, environmentally friendly process. Extracellular polymeric substances
(EPS) from microalgae have been significantly explored but their synthesis and
applications as nanofibers have not been studied extensively. Polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA) blended with EPS will be electrospun to create biopolymeric nanofibers, as PVA is non-toxic, biocompatible
and allows uniform and stable fiber formation. Herein, we use the EPS derived
from microalgae Chlorella vulgaris, reinforced
with graphene. The EPS will be characterized using chemical oxygen demand and FTIR.
The thermal properties of the nanofibers will be studied using Thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) while it morphology
will be investigated through Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray
diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the nanofiber’s rheological properties will also
be studied. Application of the nanofibers for heavy metal removal and
antibacterial properties for waste-water treatment will be quantified through
Inductively coupled plasma- atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and turbidity
studies, respectively.