A Study of the Solvent-Free Algae Cell-Wall Dissociation Approach for Multi-Output Recovery

Abstract

The solvent-free cell wall rupture approach has been proposed as a sustainable pretreatment to determine the overall algal industry efficiency. Herein, Spirulina platensis was selected as a model organism to study ultrasonic-assisted cell wall rupture for multi-output recovery. The pretreatments displaying superior performance were chosen to study on the ultra-cellular scales. The results indicated that the optimal ultrasonic-assisted dissociation recovery rate was over 90%. The possible rupture forces including the physical forces, the shear forces, and the chemical attacks, from dissociated OH− and H+ by cleaving hydrogen bonds, peptide bonds and glycolic linkages. This study highlights the ultrasonic-assisted pretreatment with structural insights, which is valuable for developing an integrated, multi-output and sustainable algal industry.