Influence of Metal-Containing Nanoparticles on the Content of Photosynthetic Pigments of Unicellular Alga Chlorella vulgaris Baijer

The research studies concentration effects and influence of nCeO2, nZnO, nNi and nPt on photosynthetic pigments in Chlorella v. B. in conditions of homeostated lab cultivation. It was shown that dependency of the content of chlorophylls and carotenoids in chlorella cells on concentrations of nCeO2, nZnO and nPt has non-linear dual-phase character. Growing concentrations of nNi in the culture solution caused monotone decrease of all photosynthetic pigments in chlorella cells. Adding 0.1 mg/L nZnO in the suspension caused a statistically significant increase of the chlorophyll a and b content (27.1 % and 64.2 % respectively) in comparison with the control sample. NPs Pt at 1 mg/L induced stimulating effect on chlorophylls a (17.4 % compared to the control) and b (23.6 % compared to the control) in chlorella cells. The number of carotenoids had a statistically significant decrease in chlorella cells by 25-70 % at high concentrations (1-10 mg/L) for all tested NPs.