Potential of metal oxides in fractionation of Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 biomass for biofuel production

To utilize the whole Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 biomass for bioethanol and biodiesel production, the recyclable metal oxide mediated fractionation was performed. Metal oxides in individual, binary and ternary forms were used for fractionation of biomass and the efficiency was determined by recovery of glycogen and lipid contents. The catalytic system with mixed metal oxides showed high recovery of glycogen and lipid, whereby the binary metal oxide CaO-MgO exhibited highest glycogen (87%) and lipid (85%) extractions with potential reusability. Moreover, the compatibility of the obtained glycogen and lipid in fermentation and transesterification were analysed which showed about 88% and 86% of theoretical maximum, which confirms the potential of mixed metal oxides in bioethanol and biodiesel production, respectively. The novelty of the present work is that the simultaneous glycogen and lipid extraction with high yield can be achieved utilizing recyclable metal oxides, particularly with the binary CaO-MgO. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.