Removal of cephalosporin antibiotics 7-ACA from wastewater during the cultivation of lipid-accumulating microalgae

•Three lipid-rich microalgae examined exhibited relatively high resistance to 7-ACA.•7-ACA at 100 mg L−1 could be completely removed during microalgae cultivation.•7-ACA removal in algal culture was due to hydrolysis, photolysis and biosorption.•Using lipid-rich microalgae to treat antibiotics-containing wastewater is promising.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using lipid-accumulating microalgae to remove cephalosporin antibiotics 7-amino cephalosporanic acid (7-ACA) from wastewater with the additional benefit of biofuels production. Three isolated microalgal strains (namely, Chlorella sp. Cha-01, Chlamydomonas sp. Tai-03 and Mychonastes sp. YL-02) were cultivated under 7-ACA stress and their biomass productivity, lipid production and N-NO3− consumption were monitored. It was found that 7-ACA had slight inhibition effects on the microalgal growth at the ratio of 12.0% (Cha-01), 9.6% (YL-02), 11.7% (Tai-03). However, lipid accumulation in the three microalgae was not influenced by the presence of 7-ACA. The investigation on the 7-ACA removal mechanisms during microalgal growth shows that 7-ACA was mainly removed by microalgae adsorption as well as hydrolysis and photolysis reactions. This study demonstrates that using microalgae to treat antibiotic-containing wastewater is promising due to the potential of simultaneous antibiotic removal and biofuel production.

Graphical abstractSchematic diagram of 7-ACA removal in cultivation of lipid-rich microalgae.Download high-res image (172KB)Download full-size image