Microalgae as Soft Permeable Particles
The colloidal stability of non-motile algal cells in water drives their distribution in space. An accurate description of the interfacial properties of microalgae is therefore critical to understand how microalgae concentrations can change in their biotope or during harvesting processes. Here, we pr...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids. - 1992. - 38(2022), 46 vom: 22. Nov., Seite 14044-14052 |
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| 1. Verfasser: | |
| Weitere Verfasser: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2022
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids |
| Schlagworte: | Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Polyelectrolytes |
| Zusammenfassung: | The colloidal stability of non-motile algal cells in water drives their distribution in space. An accurate description of the interfacial properties of microalgae is therefore critical to understand how microalgae concentrations can change in their biotope or during harvesting processes. Here, we probe the surface charges of three unicellular algae─Chlorella vulgaris, Nannochloropsis oculata, and Tetraselmis suecica─through their electrophoretic mobility. Ohshima's soft particle theory describes the electrokinetic properties of particles covered by a permeable polyelectrolyte layer, a usual case for biological particles. The results appear to fit the predictions of Ohshima's theory, proving that all three microalgae behave electrokinetically as soft particles. This allowed us to estimate two characteristic parameters of the polyelectrolyte external layer of microalgae: the volume charge density and the hydrodynamic penetration length. Results were compared with transmission electron microscopy observations of the algal cells' surfaces, and in particular of their extracellular polymeric layer, which was identified with the permeable shell evidenced by electrophoretic measurements. Noticeably, the algal surface potentials estimated from electrophoretic mobility using the soft particle theory are less negative than the apparent zeta potentials. This finding indicates that electrostatics are expected to play a minor role in phenomena of environmental and industrial importance, such as microalgae aggregation or adhesion |
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| Beschreibung: | Date Completed 23.11.2022 Date Revised 23.12.2022 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1520-5827 |
| DOI: | 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c01735 |