1. Extraction of hydrocarbons from microalga Botryococcus braunii with switchable solvents
- Author
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Giulia Samorì, Emilio Tagliavini, Chiara Samorì, Daniele Fabbri, Cristian Torri, Paola Galletti, Rossella Pistocchi, Franca Guerrini, C. Samorì, C. Torri, G. Samorì, D. Fabbri, P. Galletti, F. Guerrini, R. Pistocchi, and E. Tagliavini
- Subjects
Octanol ,Environmental Engineering ,1-Octanol ,Bioengineering ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Chlorophyta ,Botryococcus braunii ,Hexanes ,Biomass ,Waste Management and Disposal ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Chloroform ,Chromatography ,biology ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,Fatty Acids ,Extraction (chemistry) ,General Medicine ,Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic ,biology.organism_classification ,Lipids ,Hydrocarbons ,Culture Media ,Solvent ,Freeze Drying ,Hydrocarbon ,chemistry ,Solvents ,Methanol - Abstract
Lipid extraction is a critical step in the development of biofuels from microalgae. Here a new procedure was proposed to extract hydrocarbons from dried and water-suspended samples of the microalga Botryococcus braunii by using switchable-polarity solvents (SPS) based on 1,8-diazabicyclo-[5.4.0]-undec-7-ene (DBU) and an alcohol. The high affinity of the non-ionic form of DBU/alcohol SPS towards non-polar compounds was exploited to extract hydrocarbons from algae, while the ionic character of the DBU-alkyl carbonate form, obtained by the addition of CO(2), was used to recover hydrocarbons from the SPS. DBU/octanol and DBU/ethanol SPS were tested for the extraction efficiency of lipids from freeze-dried B. braunii samples and compared with n-hexane and chloroform/methanol. The DBU/octanol system was further evaluated for the extraction of hydrocarbons directly from algal culture samples. DBU/octanol exhibited the highest yields of extracted hydrocarbons from both freeze-dried and liquid algal samples (16% and 8.2% respectively against 7.8% and 5.6% with n-hexane).
- Published
- 2010
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