What are polyacrylamide based flocculants?

Polyacrylamide-based flocculants constitute the most important group of water-soluble polymers commercially applied in harvesting freshwater and marine microalgae from their suspensions. This is primarily due to the high reactivity, hydrophilic nature and relatively low costs associated with their monomer acrylamide .

Can cationic polyacrylamides trigger microalgae flocculation?

Effective flocculation performance may be achieved at salinity concentrations below 5 g/L . The diminishing competence of cationic polyacrylamides to trigger microalgae flocculation in marine and brackish media is attributed to the coiling of polymer chains under high ionic strength conditions.

Are cationic polyacrylamides effective at a fixed flocculant dose?

The efficiency of four high molecular weight cationic polyacrylamides FO 4450, FO 4650, FO 4800 and FO 4990 at a fixed flocculant dose was analyzed by Garzon-Sanabria et al. on marine microalgae Nannochloropsis salina cultures in the presence and absence of algogenic organic matter.

Does algogenic organic matter affect the flocculation behavior of polyacrylamides?

Mikulec et al. explored the impact of secreted algogenic organic matter on the flocculation behavior of polyacrylamides for five microalgae cultures, namely Chlorella sorokiniana, Parachlorella kessleri, Synechococcus nidulans, Scenedesmus obliquus, and Scenedesmus subspicatus.

Why is polyacrylamide-microalgae flocculation important?

Flocculation is the most versatile, energy-efficient and cost-efficient harvesting process. Polyacrylamides exhibit high harvesting performance at different operation scales. Comprehensive analysis of polyacrylamide-microalgae flocculation was presented. Properties of polyacrylamide and microalgae culture influence the flocculation process.

Which polyacrylamide has the lowest flocculation efficiency compared to cationic polyelectrolytes?

The non-ionic polyacrylamide Magnafloc 351 produced the lowest removal efficiency of 79.9% with a high optimal flocculant dose of 10 mg/L . In contrast to cationic polyelectrolytes, flocculation by anionic and non-ionic polyelectrolytes occurs fundamentally employing chemical forces instead of electrostatic forces.