Physical and biological fixation of CO with polymeric nanofibers in outdoor cultivations of Chlorella fusca LEB 111.

The objective of this study was to cultivate Chlorella fusca LEB 111 with nanofibers indoors and outdoors to verify the effect on CO biofixation and macromolecule production. The microalgae were cultured with 10% (w v) polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/dimethylformamide (DMF) nanofibers containing 4% (w v) iron oxide nanoparticles (NPsFeO), which were added to the cultivations at concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 g L. The CO biofixation was higher in outdoor assays (270.6 and 310.9 mg L d) than in indoor assays (124.6 and 131 mg L d) with 0.1 and 0.3 g L nanofibers, respectively. The outdoor assays with 0.3 g L nanofibers had 10.9% greater lipid production than the assays without nanofibers. Thus, this first study of outdoor cultivations with nanofibers as physical adsorbents of CO showed the effect of nanostructures in maximizing gas biofixation and producing biomolecules that can be used to obtain bioproducts.