High-efficiency harvesting of microalgae enabled by chitosan-coated magnetic biochar

Magnetic flocculation which uses magnetic particles is an emerging technology for harvesting microalgae. However, the potential modification and use of cost-effective and sustainable biochar-based composites is still in its infancy. As such, this study aimed to compare the harvesting efficiency of peanut shell biochar (BC), biochar modified with FeCl3 (FeBC), and biochar dual-modified with chitosan and FeCl3 (CTS@FeBC) on microalgae. The results showed CTS@FeBC exhibited significantly higher microalgae harvesting efficiency compared to BC and FeBC. Both acidic and alkaline conditions were favorable for harvesting microalgae by CTS@FeBC. At pH 2 and pH 12, the harvesting efficiency reached 96.9% and 98.8% within 2 min, respectively. The primary adsorption mechanism of CTS@FeBC on microalgae mainly involved electrostatic attraction and sweeping flocculation. Furthermore, CTS@FeBC also showed good biocompatibility and reusability. This study clearly demonstrated a promising technique for microalgae harvesting using biochar-based materials, offering valuable insights and potential applications in sustainable bioresource management.