Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
14290 | Biotechnology Advances | 2014 | 17 Pages |
Abstract
Extracellular biopolymer flocculants (EBFs) are flocculating substances, consisting of polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, which are secreted in the culture broth by many microorganisms. Some of EBFs have attracted much attention as biodegradable and nontoxic substitutes for conventional chemical flocculants. This paper reviews the recent development of EBFs. Aspects discussed include an introduction to conventional chemical flocculants and EBFs, isolation of novel bioflocculant-producing microorganisms, culture conditions, chemical structure and molecular weight of EBFs, the physico-chemical factors affecting flocculating activity, fermentation process design and recent and emerging application fields of EBFs.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Bioengineering
Authors
Hossein Salehizadeh, Ning Yan,