Simultaneous Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles with Spirulina sp. LEB 18 Cultivation

Effluents from the textile, photographic, and other industries release considerable amounts of toxic metal ions, such as silver. Conventional physico-chemical treatments do not completely remove heavy metals from effluents. New technologies are being studied to remediate industrial effluents from the environment, such as the use of microalgae. Studies of the microalgae biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles have been performed using biomass or culture medium without cells or specific bioproducts synthesized by the microalgae. In this work, the simultaneous biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and microalgae growth is presented for the first time. Nanoparticles 20 nm in size were biosynthesized between the 5th and 11th day of culture. Thus, an industrial effluent harmful to the environment containing elemental silver can be bioremediated by using an innovative, efficient, and ecologically safe method, with the simultaneous production of microalgae biomass and silver nanoparticles with potential applications in several areas.