Optimisation and enhancement of biohydrogen production using nickel nanoparticles – A novel approach

• Nickel nanoparticles enhanced the biohydrogen production by 22.71%.
• Response surface methodology optimisation was significant.
• 2.54 mol of hydrogen/mol of glucose achieved at optimum conditions.

The effect of initial glucose concentration, initial pH and nickel nanoparticles concentration on biohydrogen production was experimented at mesophilic temperature (30–35 °C) using anaerobic microflora in batch tests. It revealed that yield of biohydrogen using nickel nanoparticles with an average size of 13.64 nm was higher than the corresponding control tests. The optimisation of biohydrogen production was carried out by employing response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design (CCD). Results showed that the maximum cumulative biohydrogen production of 4400 mL and biohydrogen yield of 2.54 mol of hydrogen/mol of glucose was achieved at optimum conditions, initial glucose concentration of 14.01 g/L at initial pH of 5.61 and nickel nanoparticles concentration of 5.67 mg/L. The results demonstrated that linear and interactive effect of initial substrate concentration and nickel nanoparticles concentration was significant in optimisation of biohydrogen production. Nickel nanoparticles enhanced the biohydrogen production by 22.71%.

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