STUDY ON IMMOBILIZED CHLORELLA SP. BY NANO MUSSELSHELL POWDER AND CHITOSAN.

Shells were used to produce biomass materials through calcining due to their excellent mechanical properties. In this paper, the mussel shells were calcined by the vacuum tube furnace and muffle furnace at 600 °C, 700 °C and 800 °C respectively, and that prepared under optimum conditions was activated by K₂CO₃ in the hydrothermal method. The pore structure and morphology of the sample were characterized by specific surface area analyser (BET) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Then the Chlorella sp. was immobilized by mussel shell powder and chitosan, which was co-cultured for 60 days. The results showed that calcined shells at 700 °C in a vacuum tube furnace have an optimal specific surface area, up to 4.107 m²/g. K₂CO₃ hydrothermal modification method could effectively enlarge the pores of shell powder, from 4.107 nm up to 16.557 nm. The shell powder modified by chitosan had positive charges, which could attract the microalgae with negative charges, could live for up to 60 days. This article aims to use waste shells to immobilize microalgae, which is not only of great importance to the protection of the environment but also provides a novel way to immobilize microalgae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]