Exploring an in situ LED-illuminated isothermal micro-calorimetric method to investigating the thermodynamic behavior of Chlorella vulgaris during CO2 bio-fixation

Much endeavor has been dispensed recently to evaluate the potential of CO 2 mitigation by microalgae. We introduce an alternative, novel, LED-illumination isothermal microcalorimetric method to assess the thermodynamic behaviors of microalgae for better understanding of their carbon sequestration capacity. Microalgae thermodynamic behaviors were recorded as power-time curves, and their indices such as total heat evolution ( Q T ), maximum power output ( P max ) and heat generated by per algae cell ( J N/Q ) were obtained. The values for highest (74.80 g L −1 ) and control sample (0.00 g L −1 ) of Q T , P max and J N/Q were 20.85 and 2.32 J; 252.17 and 57.67 μW; 7.91 × −06 and 8.80 × −07 J cell −1 , respectively. According to the values of Q T , a general order to promote the CO 2 sequestration was found at 74.8 g L −1 > 29.92 g L −1 > 14.96 g L −1 > 7.48 g L −1 > 0 g L −1 of C sources, which directly corresponded to carbon availability in the growth medium. Chlorella vulgaris GIEC-179 showed the highest peak P max at 74.8 g L −1 concentration which was directly transformed to their biomass during bio-fixation of CO 2 process. This study is applicable for better understanding of CO 2 fixation performance of algae.