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The present study investigates the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of harmful green macroalgal blooms at a temperature of 270 °C with, and without a catalyst with a holding time of 45 min. The effect of different catalysts on the HTL product yield was also studied. Two separation methods were used for recovering the biocrude oil yield from the solid phase. On comparision with other catalyst, Na2CO3 was found to produce higher yiled of bio-oil. The total bio-oil yield was 20.10% with Na2CO3, 18.74% with TiO2, 17.37% with CaO, and 14.6% without a catalyst. The aqueous phase was analyzed for TOC, COD, TN, and TP to determine the nutrient enrichment of water phase for microalgae cultivation. Growth of four microalgae strains viz., Chlorella Minutissima, Chlorella sorokiniana UUIND6, Chlorella singularis UUIND5 and Scenedesmus abundans in the aqueous phase were studied, and compared with a standard growth medium. The results indicate that harmful macroalgal blooms are a suitable feedstock for HTL, and its aqueous phase offers a promising nutrient source for microalgae.

The hydrothermal liquefaction of municipal sludge was investigated under isothermal conditions (255 °C, 45 min) with TiO2 as a catalyst. In this study, we used two separation methods (an organic solvent-assisted extraction method and the Soxhlet extraction method) for the production of bio-crude oil. The maximum yield of bio-crude oil was 20.7 wt. % reported with the Soxhlet extraction method. The aqueous phase was examined for TN, TP, COD, and TOC to determine the suitability of this phase for microalgae cultivation. Four strains of oleaginous microalgae were cultivated in the aqueous phase. The results show that the growth of microalgae in the aqueous phase was lower compared to the control medium; this may be due to the high COD value. Microalgae and yeast co-cultivation increases biomass and lipid productivity using nutrients in the aqueous phase.

Ageratum conyzoides, an herb found throughout the year, is generally considered as a weed: it causes reduction in soil productivity and leads to health hazards for cattle and humans. However, its biomass can easily represent a cost‐effective source, which can be used for lignocellulosic biofuel production. The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol has drawn much attention in recent times due to abundance of biomass. In the present study, the cellulose and hemicellulose biomass of the leaf and stem of A. conyzoides was converted to sugars using acid hydrolysis.146.01 ± 02 mg/g of fermentable sugar was obtained from A. conyzoides. The maximum ethanol concentration 11.89 g/L was obtained after 7 days. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the surface morphology after acid hydrolysis of biomass. In the current study, the residues of acid hydrolysis and fermented wastewater was used for biogas production through anaerobic digestion. The yield of biogas from the residues of acid hydrolysis and fermented wastewater was 204 L kg−1VS. The results obtained indicate that A. conyzoides may be considered as a promising feedstock for bioethanol and biogas production.

Pyrene (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon), an anthropogenic organic pollutant prevalent in various ecological units, receives more attention for bioremediation and energy transformation using microalgae. In this study, we have used pyrene pollutant (50–500 ppm) to evaluate the half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of Chlorella sorokiniana and the impact on metabolites as well as the induction of lipid biosynthesis to produce renewable biodiesel. Pyrene concentration at 230 ppm (IC50) caused half-maximum inhibition for the 96 h incubation. The harvest in the stationary stage (day 16) for C. sorokiniana revealed a biomass generation of 449 ± 7 mg L−1 and 444 ± 8 mg L−1 dcw in the control medium and pyrene IC50 medium, respectively. An insignificant decline in biomass generation (1.2%) was observed due to the stress effect of the pyrene IC50 medium on metabolic biosynthesis. Although contrary to biomass generation, IC50 of pyrene assisted to induce lipid biosynthesis in C. sorokiniana. The improvement in lipid biosynthesis was observed as ~24% higher in pyrene IC50 compared to the control medium. The chemical composition of the microalgae biomass, metabolites, and lipids was examined using FTIR spectra. The extracted lipid was transesterified to produce biodiesel via methanolic-H2SO4 catalysis. The renewable biodiesel obtained was evaluated using FTIR and 1H NMR spectra. The transformation efficiency of the lipid of C. sorokiniana in biodiesel was calculated as ~81%. This research offers the incentive in lipid biosynthesis in microalgae cells using pyrene for the production of renewable and sustainable ecological biofuels along with bioremediation of pyrene.

Microalgae have emerged as a potential alternative for the production of many useful compounds like protein, carbohydrate and lipid. Lipid-rich microalgae are important and rich source for alternative energy production. In order to commercially utilize microalgae for energy production, the lipid productivity should be enhanced. Keeping in view the above-mentioned potentials of microalgae, in the present study, we have attempted to display the role of chemical stimulants and light in the growth and lipid production of the microalgae Chlorella singularis (UUIND5). During the present investigations, effect of varying photoperiods and different types of lights and chemical stimulants, viz. CaCl2 and kinetin on growth rate and lipid production, was studied. The maximum growth rate recorded was 166 ± 0.3 mg/L/d, when 0.80 g/l CaCl2 and 0.5 mg/l kinetin were added to Bold’s basal medium. C. singularis was then cultivated in this medium for 14 days under sunlight +LED (10-h sunlight + 14-h LED light) at photoperiod 24-h light/0-h dark. The maximum lipid yield 30.2% of dry wt. was obtained under sunlight +LED. Further, the gas chromatography analysis also showed the presence of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). FAMEs profile was analyzed according to ASTM D6751 specification. Thus, it was concluded that sunlight +LED at 24-h light/0-h dark (100 μmol photons m−2 s−1) photoperiod with CaCl2 and kinetin is an effective strategy to boost lipid productivity in C. singularis (UUIND5).

Green oleaginous microalgae are good candidates for the integration of heavy metal bioremediation with the generation of biofuels. To be effective, this requires a comprehensive understanding and optimization of the metal concentration that generates maximum growth along with a high yield of lipids from microalgae cells. This work follows the aforementioned strategy and involves the use of oleaginous microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana for lead mitigation and biodiesel production. The short-term effects (IC50 value at 96 h of culture) and the long-term effects (pigments and biomass) of the exposure of lead (Pb) to the growth and biochemical compositions (pigments, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) of microalgae have been also determined. Chlorella sorokiniana has a high half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 value and higher metal bio-concentration factor (BCF) for Pb (II), which represents that this strain can be considered as a lead (Pb) hyperbioaccumulator. FTIR analysis revealed a reduction in proteins and carbohydrates under the influence of Pb while an increase in lipids has been recorded. The lipid profile based on 1H NMR and GC–MS has been followed for the quality analysis of the biodiesel produced that indicated altered lipid profiles under stress by Pb and elevated levels of SFA and MUFA.

In this study, hydropyrolysis was carried out using sodium carbonate to convert the green algal bloom into bio-oil, biochar, aqueous solution, and gases. The effect of supercritical conditions (400, 450, 500 °C) on the product yield, bio-oil composition, and structure, and functionalities of the biochar was determined. The high yield of biochar and bio-oil was reported at 400 °C. A significant reduction in bio-oil and increment in hydrocarbon content was reported on the elevation of temperature from 450 °C to 500 °C. After that, kinetic and isotherm analysis was investigated simultaneously to remove four heavy metals viz. Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II), and Cd(II) from the mixture solution. Results show that kinetics data follow a pseudo-second-order kinetics model and adsorption isotherm is in better agreement with the Langmuir model, not with the Freundlich model. The maximum adsorption capacity was found 10.90, 5.74, 5.80, and 16.28 mg/g with the biochar prepared at 500 °C for Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II), and Cd(II) metals, respectively. The current investigation provided a promising way for the utilization of freshwater algal bloom biomass for renewable products and simultaneously heavy metal removal from the water.

Heavy metal pollution is one of the major environmental concerns worldwide. Toxic heavy metals when untreated get accumulated in environment and can pose severe threats to living organisms. It is well known that metals play a major role either directly or indirectly in different metabolic processes of bacteria. This allows bacterial cells to grow even in the presence of some toxic heavy metals. Microbial biotechnology has thus emerged as an effective and eco friendly solution in recent years for bioremediation of heavy metals. Therefore, this review is focused on summarising bacterial adaptation mechanisms for various heavy metals. It also shares some applications of have metal tolerant bacteria in bioremediation. Bacteria have evolved a number of processes for heavy metal tolerance viz., transportation across cell membrane, accumulation on cell wall, intra as well as extracellular entrapment, formation of complexes and redox reactions which form the basis of different bioremediation strategies. The genetic determinants for most of these resistances are located on plasmids however some may be chromosomal as well. Bacterial cells can uptake heavy by both ATP dependent and ATP independent processes. Bacterial cell wall also plays a very important role in accumulating heavy metals by bacterial cells. Gram-positive bacteria accumulate much higher concentrations of heavy metals on their cell walls than that of metals gram -ve bacteria. The role of bacterial metallothioneins (MTs) in heavy metal has also been reported. Thus, heavy metal tolerant bacteria are important for bioremediation of heavy metal pollutants from areas containing high concentrations of particular heavy metals.

Organophosphorus compounds exhibit a wide range of toxicity to mammals. In this study the effect of malathion on the growth and biochemical parameters of microalgae was evaluated. Three microalgae (Micractinium pusillum UUIND2, Chlorella singulari UUIND5 and Chlorella sorokiniana UUIND6) were used in this study. Among the three algal strains tested, Chlorella sorokiniana UUIND6 was able to tolerate 100 ppm of malathion. The photosynthetic pigments, the protein, carbohydrate and lipid contents of microalgal cells were also analyzed. About 90% degradation was recorded in 25 ppm, 50 ppm and 70% was recorded in 100 ppm of malathion by Chlorella sorokiniana. A mechanism of degradation of malathion by Chlorella sorokiniana is proposed in this study. Activity of carboxylesterase was increased in algal cells cultivated in malathion containing medium which confirmed that malathion degraded into phosphate. Increased amount of Malondialdehye (MDA) indicate the development of free radicals under the stress of malathion which substantialy increase de novo TAG biosynthesis, while increased level of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) suggested their association in scavenging of free radical.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Lipids yield increased by osmotic shock cell disruption method. • High percentage of hexadecanoic acid (52–68%) was obtained by soxhlet extraction. • Impurities of chlorophyll and protein were also detected in the extracted lipids. • Only one type of FAME, hexadecanoic acid methyl ester was obtained by Triton X-100. • 23.3 wt% of crude oil was produced by HTL of algal biomass with TiO2 at 300 °C., Cell disruption and lipid extraction methods for macroalgae are not well reported. Therefore, we compared various lipid extraction methods and extraction efficiency of various solvents to improve lipid yields from Oedogonium fresh water macroalgae. Lipid extraction was done by 2 methods viz., modified Bligh and Dyer method and soxhlet extraction using either single solvents or mixtures. In soxhlet extraction method five solvents were used (1) Hexane commonly used solvent for lipid extractions, (2) chloroform: methanol (2:1), (3) Chloroform: hexane (1:1), (4) Chloroform: hexane (1:2), (5) Dichloromethane + methanol (2:1). To improve lipid extraction yields, various cell disruption methods were also compared during the present study. Impurities of chlorophyll and protein were also detected in the extracted lipids. Hydrothermal liquefaction of algal biomass with TiO2 was also conducted at 300 °C. HTL was more effective by which 23.3 wt% of bio-crude oil was obtained.