Publications by authors named "R H Wijffels"

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are green alternatives for conventional solvents. They have gained attention for their potential to extract valuable compounds from biomass, such as seaweed. In this framework, a case study was developed to assess the feasibility of pressure-driven membrane processes as an efficient tool for the recovery of deep eutectic solvents and targeted biomolecules.

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Microalgae are a promising renewable feedstock that can be produced on non-arable land using seawater. Their biomass contains proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and pigments, and can be used for various biobased products, such as food, feed, biochemicals, and biofuels. For such applications, the production costs need to be reduced, for example, by improving biomass productivity in photobioreactors.

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Solid-state fermentation is widely used in traditional food production, but most of the complex processes involved were designed and are carried out without a scientific basis. Often, mathematical models can be established to describe mass and heat transfer with the assistance of chemical engineering tools. However, due to the complex nature of solid-state fermentation, mathematical models alone cannot explain the many dynamic changes that occur during these processes.

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Snow algae are a diverse group of extremophilic microeukaryotes found on melting polar and alpine snowfields. They play an important role in the microbial ecology of the cryosphere, and their propagation on snow and ice surfaces may in part accelerate climate-induced melting of these systems. High-quality snow algae genomes are needed for studies on their unique physiology, adaptive mechanisms, and genome evolution under multiple forms of stress, including cold temperatures and intense sunlight.

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Medium-chain-length α,ω-diols (mcl-diols) play an important role in polymer production, traditionally depending on energy-intensive chemical processes. Microbial cell factories offer an alternative, but conventional strains like Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae face challenges in mcl-diol production due to the toxicity of intermediates such as alcohols and acids. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology enable the engineering of non-model strains for such purposes with P.

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