Analysis of polyhydroxybutrate and bioplastic production from microalgae

Abstract

Algae manufacture a diversity of base materials that can be used for bioplastics assembly. The most essential compounds are carbohydrates and hydrocarbons. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a polymer belonging to the polyester class that is of interest as bio-derived and biodegradable plastics. In this study, three microalgal strains in addition to two microalgal biomass collected from high-rate algal ponds (HRAP) were used to detect their ability to produce polyhydroxybutrate for bioplastic production. The results showed that among the selected strains, Microcystis aeruginosa has the highest polyhydroxybutrate concentration (0.49 ± 0.5 mg mL−1). However, the biomass collected from the high-rate algal pond dominated with Microcystis sp. showed a higher concentration (0.7 ± 0.6 mg mL−1). The biomass collected from the high-rate algal pond dominated with Microcystis sp. was used for producing bioplastic since it has the highest concentration of PHB. Referring to plasticizing capacity, elongation at break (%) for algal biomass was 530% which was higher than that detected in blank which was 307%. So, it was obvious that the algal bioplastic has good plasticizing capacity.