Optimisation of starch production from microalgae

塑料生产的替代方法对于维持和增长经济，同时减少对化石燃料的依赖至关重要。微藻被认为是生产各种有价值生物产品的可持续资源。与陆地作物相比，它们需要的面积要小得多，并且具有高的光合作用速率和固定二氧化碳的能力。藻类利用阳光、二氧化碳、营养物质和水，通过蛋白质、纤维素和淀粉生产各种有用的产品，包括生物塑料和微藻生物聚合物。通常使用的生物塑料中约有50%是由淀粉制成的。藻类生物质加工的高成本带来了商业化的困难；藻类生物质的上下游加工仍然具有挑战性，需要新的技术开发和范例。将进行微藻的混合营养培养，并比较新型薄膜生物反应器和光生物反应器对藻类生长和产品质量的影响。将开发最佳裂解和提取方法，包括磨珠、高压均质、超声波、脉冲电场、渗透休克、微波、酶处理和水解法，以确定用于生物塑料生产的最佳提取方法。将确定生长参数和下游提取技术对生物塑料材料特性的影响。

Alternative methods of plastic production are critical to sustain and grow the economy whilst reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Microalgae are considered a sustainable resource for producing various ranges of valuable bioproducts. They require much less area than terrestrial crops and have a high photosynthetic rate as well as CO2 fixation capability. Algae use sunlight, CO2, nutrients, and water to produce various useful products including bioplastics and microalgal biopolymers through their proteins, cellulose and starch. Approx 50 percent of the bioplastics used comercially are prepared from starch. The high costs of algal biomass processing poses commercialization difficulty; upstream and downstream processing of algal biomass is still challenging, and new technology developments and paradigms are needed. Mixotrophic cultivation of microalgae will be performed and the algal growth and product quality will be compared from novel thin-film bioreactors and photobioreactors. Optimal lysing and extraction methods will be developed and include e.g. bead milling, high-pressure homogenization, ultrasonication, pulsed electric field, osmotic shock, microwaves, enzymatic treatment, and hydrolysis to identify optimal extraction method for bioplastic production. The impact of the growth parameters and downstream extraction techniques on the bioplastic material characteristics will be identified.