Spirulina platensis protein extract as an additive to improve the removal capacity of protein hydrogels

M. D'ORSO; C. MEIORIN; J. F. MARTUCCI

CABA

Congreso; WCCE11- 11th WORLD CONGRESS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; 2023

Pollution of water resources with various organic and inorganic pollutants, like dyes and heavy metals, is one of the biggest challenges of the present age. These contaminants pose a serious threat to human health and the life of plants and animals. For that reason such a vast amount of efforts are invested to prioritize the synthesis of the novel adsorbent systems with high sorption capacity and at the same time achieving a major goal to alleviate their non-biodegradable and toxic nature. Objective: The aim of this work is design eco-friendly chemically cross-linked hydrogels based on bovine gelatin (Ge), microalgal protein from Spirulina platensis (PC) and magnetite (Fe3O4/γFe2O3) with potential application in wastewater treatment, taking advantage of the chelating characteristics of phycobiliproteins, protein adsorbents and the possibility of recovering hydrogels by magnetization.