Algae-synthesized cerium oxide nanoparticles for antibiotic degradation in water and subsequent bioenergy production.

In the present study, CeO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using one-pot green route with high yield using microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana. The synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles (CeO2-np) exhibited rapid photocatalytic degradation 98.2% of doxycycline (DC) (20 mg/L) in only 30 min under visible light at pH7 in water. It was encouraging that CeO2-np did not demonstrate a loss of photocatalytic activity up to five repeated cycles, confirming its stability during the degradation process. Moreover, cytotoxicity evaluation of CeO2-nps on the green alga Chlorella sorokiniana advocated its non-toxic nature by supporting algal growth (0.52 g/L biomass) with 13% total lipids after 12 days in DC treated water. Ultimately, the produced algal biomass could be further utilized as a feedstock of biofuel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]