Microalgae separation technology is essential for both executing laboratory-based fundamental studies and ensuring the quality of the final algal products. However, the conventional microalgae separation technology of micropipetting requires highly skilled operators and several months of repeated separation to obtain a microalgal single strain. This study therefore aimed at utilizing microfluidic cell sorting technology for the simple and effective separation of microalgae. Microalgae are characterized by their various morphologies with a wide range of sizes. In this study, a contraction–expansion array microchannel, which utilizes these unique properties of microalgae, was specifically employed for the size-based separation of microalgae. At Reynolds number of 9, two model algal cells, Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) and Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis), were successfully separated without showing any sign of cell damage, yielding a purity of 97.9% for C. vulgaris and 94.9% for H. pluvialis. The result supported that the inertia-based separation technology could be a powerful alternative to the labor-intensive and time-consuming conventional microalgae separation technologies.
展开▼
机译:微藻分离技术对于执行基于实验室的基本研究并确保最终藻类产品的质量至关重要。然而,常规的微血脂分离技术的微型镜片需要高技能的操作员和几个月的重复分离以获得微藻单株。因此,该研究旨在利用微流体细胞分选技术来简单有效地分离微藻。微藻的特征在于它们的各种形态,具有各种尺寸。在该研究中,采用微藻的这些独特性质的收缩膨胀阵列微通道特异性用于微藻的尺寸分离。在Reynolds的9个,两种模型藻类细胞,Chlarella Ventaris(C.Ventgaris)和Haematococcus Pluvialis(H.Pluvialis),在不显示任何细胞损伤的任何迹象,产生97.9%的纯度为C.Ventgaris和94.9 H pluvialis的%。结果支持惯性基分离技术可以是劳动密集型和耗时的常规微藻分离技术的强大替代品。
展开▼