Scientists at RUDN University in collaboration with Lomonosov MSU and Kurchatov institute helped advance phosphate and nitrate biocapture technology from wastewater using Lobosphaera algae fixed on the filters. The reclaimed biomass obtained in this process can be used as a fertilizer. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering.
A team of biotechnologists from RUDN University together with their colleagues from MSU and the Kurchatov Institute developed a biopolymer filter which uses microalgae. The polymer is chitosan-based, biodegradable, and captures chemical elements from wastewater better than current technologies.
"Our team was the first to successfully use cross-linked chitosan polymers to immobilize unicellular algae and make them effectively consume nutrients while at the same time not preventing them from growing and photosynthesizing," said Alexei Solovchenko, a PhD in Biology from the Department of Agrobiotechnology, RUDN University.