{"id":166475,"date":"2025-08-15T07:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T05:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=166475"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:32:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T12:32:06","slug":"utep-researchers-boost-microalgae-biofuel-yields-with-nanotechnology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/utep-researchers-boost-microalgae-biofuel-yields-with-nanotechnology\/","title":{"rendered":"UTEP Researchers Boost Microalgae Biofuel Yields with Nanotechnology\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Researchers
Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have shown how nanotechnology can significantly enhance biofuel production from microalgae. The team, led by Hamidreza Sharifan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (left), includes Luis Salmeron Covarrubias, a senior environmental science major (center), and Kavitha Beluri, a doctoral student in environmental science and engineering.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0study<\/a>, recently published in ACS Applied Bio Materials, focuses on the microalga\u00a0Chlorella vulgaris<\/em>, a fast-growing species commonly found in freshwater environments that is used to produce biofuels. Led by Hamidreza Sharifan, Ph.D., assistant professor in UTEP\u2019s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the team showed that controlled doses of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles can dramatically increase the organism\u2019s lipid content, including the triacylglycerol used to produce biofuels.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under normal growth conditions, the research team observed C. vulgaris<\/em> cells contained about 14 percent lipids. But when exposed to moderate concentrations (30\u201350 mg\/L) of synthesized ZnO nanoparticles, the cells increased their lipid content to as much as 48 percent of their mass \u2013 more than triple the baseline \u2013 without significant harm to the cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cSometimes when people are stressed, they gain weight or, in other words, accumulate more lipids,\u201d Sharifan<\/strong> said. \u201cWe found that a similar thing happens to the cells of the microalgae when we induce stress, in our case, by exposing them to zinc oxide nanoparticles, due to the effect of reactive oxygen species.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The team also observed that higher concentrations of ZnO (above 50 mg\/L) caused oxidative damage to the cells, reducing their biofuel potential \u2013 highlighting the importance of threshold levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to these findings, the researchers developed the Biofuel Suitability Score (BSS) \u2013 a new, scalable framework that evaluates and optimizes biofuel production conditions. Sharifan explained that the BSS integrates multiple factors, providing actionable insights to guide future strategies in sustainable energy production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThis research exemplifies the innovative work our scientists are doing to address global energy challenges,\u201d said Robert Kirken, Ph.D., dean of UTEP\u2019s College of Science<\/strong>. \u201cThe team\u2019s work significantly advances our understanding of sustainable bioenergy solutions, setting the stage for impactful environmental applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The research team will now continue to refine their process in hopes of demonstrating its viability at large scale, also possibly using other species of microalgae that can thrive in environments such as wastewater and saltwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study was conducted in collaboration with the Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Chihuahua and supported by UTEP\u2019s U.S.-Mexico Collaboration Fellowship and a grant from the USDA\u2019s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About The University of Texas at El Paso<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The University of Texas at El Paso is America\u2019s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 25,000 students are Hispanic, and more than half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 171 bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0study, recently published in ACS Applied Bio Materials, focuses on the microalga\u00a0Chlorella vulgaris, a fast-growing species commonly found in freshwater environments that is used to produce biofuels. Led by Hamidreza Sharifan, Ph.D., assistant professor in UTEP\u2019s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the team showed that controlled doses of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles can dramatically increase […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":166477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"As global energy use continues to rise, the demand for renewable energy sources such as biofuels is also growing \u2013 especially in the transportation sector. Now, researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have demonstrated how nanotechnology can significantly improve biofuel production from microalgae, offering a sustainable path forward","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,5714,10416,10408,10477,26772],"supplier":[26770,19833,26771],"class_list":["post-166475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-biofuels","tag-circulareconomy","tag-greenchemistry","tag-microalgae","tag-nanotechnology","supplier-the-university-of-texas-at-el-paso","supplier-united-states-department-of-agricultures-national-institute-of-food-and-agriculture","supplier-universidad-autonoma-de-chihuahua"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166475"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=166475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}