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PDF Nanobiotechnology For Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuel Production Verma Ebook Full Chapter
PDF Nanobiotechnology For Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuel Production Verma Ebook Full Chapter
PDF Nanobiotechnology For Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuel Production Verma Ebook Full Chapter
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Biotechnological Production of Bioactive Compounds 1st
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Nanobiotechnology for Sustainable
Bioenergy and Biofuel Production
Editor
Madan L. Verma
Assistant Professor
Department of Biotechnology, School of Basic Sciences
Indian Institute of Information Technology Una
Himachal Pradesh, India
p,
A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK
Cover credit: Cover illustration reproduced from Trends in Biotechnology with permission of the
publisher, Elsevier.
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Preface iii
1. Challenges and Opportunities in the Application of Nanotechnology 1
for Sustainable Biofuel Production
Shailendra Kumar Singh, Ajay Bansal, Suman Kapur
and Shanthy Sundaram
2. Recent Advances in Enzyme Immobilization Using Nanomaterials 41
and its Applications for the Production of Biofuels
Sujit Sadashiv Jagtap and Ashwini Ashok Bedekar
3. Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) Based Enzyme Immobilisation for 75
Biofuel Applications
Aravind Madhavan, Sharrel Rebello, Raveendran Sindhu,
Parameswaran Binod and Ashok Pandey
4. Role of Chitosan Nanotechnology in Biofuel Production 89
Meenu Thakur, Rekha Kushwaha and Madan L. Verma
5. Advancements in Nanobiocatalysis for Bioenergy and 124
Biofuel Production
G. Velvizhi, J. Ranjitha, S. Vijayalakshmi and G.N. Nikhil
6. Recent Trends in Nanobiocatalysis for Biofuel Production 150
Nisha Singh, Shweta Singh and Motilal Mathesh
7. Nanobiotechnology of Ligninolytic and Cellulolytic Enzymes 177
for Enhanced Bioethanol Production
Pardeep Kaur and Gurvinder Singh Kocher
8. Nanoparticles in Methane Production from Anaerobic Digesters: 202
Advantages, Challenges and Perspectives
Efraín Reyes Cruz, Lilia Ernestina Montañez Hernández, Inty Omar
Hernández De Lira and Nagamani Balagurusamy
9. Contributions of Nanomaterials in Biohydrogen Production 233
Santosh Kumar, Rekha Kushwaha and Madan L. Verma
vi Nanobiotechnology for Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuel Production
1. Introduction
To cope with the daunting energy challenges of day-to-day requirement, the focus of
all nations has shifted toward the exploitation of alternative energies such as solar,
wind, tidal, geothermal and bioenergy (Ahmadi et al. 2019). Among all alternatives,
biofuels are one of the potent non-conventional alternatives that are comprised
of diverse energy variables like biodiesel, biohydrogen, bioethanol, biogas, etc.,
and are obtained from living forms. In contrast to conventional fuel sources, the
biofuels have not demonstrated any detrimental effects on the environment as they
do not leave any toxic end-products after its processing (Cherubini 2010). They
have gained huge attention in recent years due to their low GHG emission, reduced
carbon footprint and, more importantly, their sustainable nature (Singh et al. 2012).
However, due to the inadequate biochemical production techniques, there is still
a very limited utilization of biological resources for biofuel application that may
facilitate profitability.
Recently, nanotechnology has shown their significant potential on creating
‘clean’ and ‘green’ methods in biofuel production with substantial environmental
remunerations. Though nanotechnology is an emerging science, it already has
gained considerable attention in recent years due to its extremely fascinating and
useful properties. At present, several engineered nanoparticles are being used for a
1
Centre of Biotechnology, University of Allahabad, India - 211002.
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar -
144011.
3
Birla Institute of Technology & Science Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Jawahar Nagar, Shamirpet Mandal,
Ranga Reddy Dist., Telangana - 500078.
* Corresponding author: shailbiochem@gmail.com
2 Nanobiotechnology for Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuel Production
Figure 1. The relative size scale of macro, micro and nanomaterials in comparison to natural and man-
made material.
Challenges and Opportunities in Appl. of Nanotech. for Sustainable Biofuel Prod. 3
(Faucher et al. 2019). They can remain free or group together depending on the
attractive or repulsive interaction forces between them. NMs can be encountered as
aerosols (solids or liquids in the air), suspensions (solids in liquids) or as emulsions
(liquids in liquids). It is well known that compared to their larger sized counterparts,
the nanomaterials tend to have enhanced properties in terms of their electrical or heat-
conducting capacity, surface area to volume ratio, reflecting light, rates of reactivity,
elasticity, strength, etc. (Jeevanandam et al. 2018). The increase in the surface area
results in an increase in surface atoms. Surface atoms in nanosize particles have
lower coordination numbers compared to macro-particles.
Thus, nanomaterial offers an advantage for immobilization of several biological
molecules and even a perfect scaffold to recruit functional molecules for multiple
signal amplification due to high surface-to-volume ratio and surface activity. The
activity is highly enhanced in nanoscale matters. Table 2 summarizes the transformed
properties of nanomaterials from its bulk counterparts.
Properties Examples
Mechanical Improved hardness and toughness of metals and alloys, ductility and super plasticity
of ceramic. The intensity of the aggregates of carbon nanotubes is 100 times that of
steel; the weight of the former is only one-sixth of the latter.
Magnetic Increased magnetic coercivity up to a critical grain size, superparamagnetic
behavior, e.g., silver is not magnetic in the bulk. It is nonmagnetic at macroscale but
shows magnetic nature at nanoscale due to subtle electronic interactions.
Catalytic Better catalytic efficiency through higher surface-to-volume ratio, e.g., inert
materials like gold, silver and platinum serve as catalysts in their nanoscale.
Electrical Increased electrical conductivity in ceramics and magnetic nanocomposition.
Increased electric resistance in metals.
Optical Spectral shift of optical absorption and fluorescence properties. Increased quantum
efficiency of semiconductor crystals.
Sterical Increased selectivity and hollow spheres for specific drug transportation and
controlled release.
Biological Increased permeability through biological barriers (membranes, blood-brain barrier,
etc.), improved biocompability and antimicrobial properties.
(microbial fuel cells), etc. (Singh et al. 2016b). The generations of biofuel have been
summarized in Table 3. During the coming 10–20 years, it is expected that various
photobiological and electrochemical fuels are gradually entering into the market.
oxide (Verziu et al. 2008) and zirconium oxide (Qiu et al. 2011) have been developed
with high catalytic performance. Magnetic nanoparticle-based catalysts are
advantageous because of their ability to be easily separated from reaction media and
reused (leading to more economical) industrial-scale biofuel production (Feyzi et
al. 2013). Several mesoporous heterogenous nanocatalysts, with excellent structural
properties for enhanced catalytic activities, have also been designed and successfully
used in biodiesel production (Feyzi et al. 2013). Carbon-based nanocatalysts such as
carbon nanotubes (Lee et al. 2010a), carbon nanofibers (Mohamad et al. 2015), etc.,
have also shown to hold great potentials for biofuel production from a wide range of
feedstocks, especially from non-food ones.
Another promising application of nanotechnology in the biofuel industry
is enzyme (biocatalysts) immobilization during lipase-catalyzed biodiesel and
cellulosic ethanol production processes (Huang et al. 2015). These techniques could
reduce the production cost at commercial-scale biofuel production.
microwave, bead milling and cryogrinding (Zheng et al. 2011), chemical methods
including acid, alkaline, solvent soaking and osmotic shock (Ho et al. 2013) and
enzymatic treatments (Li et al. 2012). But still there is a lack of feasible, economical
and highly productive method. The use of nanotechnology and nanomaterials could
be one possible avenue to improve the efficiency of biofuel production and reduce
its processing cost.
Natural Cellulase
silica core-shell magnetic aggregates (CLEA). > 4.8 and 65% of its maximum activity at 80°C; compared et al. 2016
nanoparticles (MNPs). to free cellulase which lost its activity sharply.
30% activity retained after six cycles.
Trichoderma viride Superparamagnetic Physical Adsorption. Enzyme stability increased even on higher pH. Khoshnevisan et
nanoparticles. al. 2011
2D graphene with Covalent bond by a Specific activity: Retained about 55% of the original even Gokhale et al.
maghemite-magnetite combination of annealed after four recycles. 2013
nanoparticles. polyelectrolyte brushes Highest cellulase activity reported for 2D flat carriers.
and zero-length spacer
molecules.
Fe3O4 magnetic Covalent binding via Increase in stability over a wider range of temperatures. Jordan et al. 2011
Nanobiotechnology for Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuel Production
Commercial Cellulase
PVA/Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Cyclically freezing and Glucose yield: 1.89 mg.ml–1 at least 3 times than sum of Liao et al. 2010
thawing procedure under individual yield.
microemulsion system. Cellulose activity: 40% after four cycles of reuse.
Magnetic Fe3O4 chitosan Covalent binding via Cellulase activity: 112.3 mg/g, 5 IU/mg cellulase. Zang et al. 2014
nanoparticles. glutaraldehyde activation Thermal stability: Cellulase retained 50% of its initial
method. activity after 10 cycles.
Trichoderma reesei Activated magnetic support. Covalent binding via Immobilized enzyme retained 50% enzyme activity up to Abraham et al.
glutaraldehyde activation five cycles with thermostability at 80°C, superior to that of 2014
method. the free enzyme.
Co-immobilization AuNP (gold nanoparticles) Cystein residues of the Exhibited higher pH stabilities; reused up to seven times Cho et al. 2012
of endoglucanase, and Au-MSNP (gold- enzyme were added to their with almost 60% and 90% of retained activity.
exo-glucanase, and doped magnetic silica C terminal to strongly co-
Recombinant Cellulase
β-glucosidase) nanoparticles). immobilize these cellulases.
Challenges and Opportunities in Appl. of Nanotech. for Sustainable Biofuel Prod.
13
14 Nanobiotechnology for Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuel Production
catalyst in the esterification of higher fatty acids. Many researchers have shown that
different studies on the addition of large porous surface and recyclable catalyst-based
nanoparticles increase during the contact between alcohol and oil which effectively
improve the yield of products. Qiu et al. (2011) catalyzed the transesterification of
soybean oil with methanol to biodiesel by nanocatalyst ZrO2 loaded with C4H4O6HK.
A yield of 98.03% of biodiesel was obtained in 16:1 M ratio of methanol to oil,
6.0% catalyst, 60ºC reaction temperature and 2.0 hours reaction time. Han and Guan
(2009) prepared a nano-solid based syn-catalyst, i.e., K2O/γ-Al2O3, and reported
a yield of 94% in biodiesel production from rapeseed oil using 3% of catalyst,
12:1 M ratio of methanol to oil at 70ºC and a reaction time of 3 hours. Furthermore,
Gao et al. (2015) reported 96% biodiesel yield applying KF/γ-Al2O3/honeycomb
ceramic (HC) monolithic catalyst from palm oil with the methanol; oil ratio 18:1 at
140ºC and 33 minutes reaction time. Table 5 highlights the unseen potential of NMs
for biodiesel production.
Furthermore, compared to acid, base and heterogeneous catalysts,
transesterification using a biological catalyst or an enzyme seems to be a more
efficient and environmentally friendly substitute. Enzymatic catalysts can be more
resistant to interferences of free fatty acid and water associated with chemical
catalysis. Thus, the use of lipase for transesterification would not only avoid product
contamination but also favor an easier glycerol recovery (Antczak et al. 2009).
However, the commercialization of lipase-catalyzed biodiesel production is limited
due to higher cost and denaturation of enzyme by substrates and by-products. The
biocatalytic activity of the enzyme is also decreased in the presence of methanol,
which is used as an acyl acceptor (Ranganathan et al. 2008). Enzyme immobilization
on nanocarriers and other porous materials can be a crucial way to solve
abovementioned issues. Enzyme immobilization for biodiesel production consists
of two important components: enzyme-like lipase and support materials. Commonly
used lipases from bacteria and fungi include non-specific lipases (Candida antarctica,
Candida cylindracea, Candida rugosa, Pseudomonas cepacia and Pseudomonas
fluorescens) or specific lipases (Rhizopus oryzae, Rhizopus delemar, Rhizomucor
miehei, Thermomyces lanuginosus and Aspergillus niger) for biodiesel production
(Andualema and Gessesse 2012).
On the basis of magnetism property of support, nanoparticles have categorized
into two types: non-magnetic (e.g., zirconia, silica, polystyrene, chitosan, polylactic
acid, etc.) and magnetic (γ-Fe2O3, Fe3O4, Poly-(glycidyl methacrylate) grafted
Fe3O4/SiOx, etc.). The reuse of the non-magnetic nanoparticle-attached enzyme is
often a difficult task as it could be well dispersed in the reaction solution. Thus,
considering simplistic and fast separation of the immobilized enzyme from the
reaction mixture, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are routinely used as support
for enzyme immobilization. Many researchers found that MNP-based lipase
immobilization has excellent stability after repeated applications. Tran et al. (2012)
showed that immobilized lipase on alkyl-functionalized Fe3O4-SiO2 nanocomposites
was 1.3-fold higher than non-functionalized Fe3O4-SiO2. Nanocomposites were
used in transesterification of olive oil for 10 cycles without significant loss in the
activity. Tables 6 and 7 summarize the information about magnetic and non-magnetic
investigations on nano-immobilized lipase.
Table 5. Potential of nanomaterials for biodiesel production.
Candida rugosa Cellulose acetate Covalent Enhanced thermal stability. Huang et al. 2011
Burkholderia cepacia Polycaprolactane Covalent Enhanced catalytic activity and reusability. Song et al. 2012
Candida rugosa Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) Covalent Equivalent esterification activity to that of Nakane et al. 2007
Novozyme 435.
Table 7. Biodiesel production using nano-immobilized lipase.