Immobilization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on to acrylamide–sodium acrylate hydrogels for production of ethyl alcohol

Superabsorbent polymers: A state-of-art review on their classification, synthesis, physicochemical properties, and applications

Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) and modified natural polymer hydrogels are widely and increasingly used in agriculture, health care textiles, effluent treatment, drug delivery, tissue engineering, civil concrete structure, etc. However, not many comprehensive reviews are available on this class of novel polymers. A review covering all the viable applications of SAP will be highly useful for researchers, industry persons, and medical, healthcare, and agricultural purposes. Hence, an attempt has been made to review SAPs with reference to their classifications, synthesis, modification by crosslinking, and physicochemical characterization such as morphology, swellability, thermal and mechanical properties, lifetime prediction, thermodynamics of swelling, absorption, release and transport kinetics, quantification of hydrophilic groups, etc. Besides, the possible methods of fine-tuning their structures for improving their absorption capacity, fast absorption kinetics, mechanical strength, controlled release features, etc. were also addressed to widen their uses. This review has also highlighted the biodegradability, commercial viability and market potential of SAPs, SAP composites, the feasibility of using biomass as raw materials for SAP production, etc. The challenges and future prospects of SAP, their safety, and environmental issues are also discussed.

Microencapsulation of Baker’s Yeast in Gellan Gum Beads Used in Repeated Cycles of Glucose Fermentation

The purpose of this work is to prepare ionically cross-linked (with CaCl2) gellan particles with immobilized yeast cells for their use in repeated fermentation cycles of glucose. The study investigates the influence of ionic cross-linker concentration on the stability and physical properties of the particles obtained before extrusion and during time in the coagulation bath (the cross-linker solution with different CaCl2 concentrations). It was found that by increasing the amount of the cross-linker the degree of cross-linking in the spherical gellan matrix increases, having a direct influence on the particle morphology and swelling degree in water. These characteristics were found to be very important for diffusion of substrate, that is, the glucose, into the yeast immobilized cells and for the biocatalytic activity of the yeast immobilized cells in gellan particles. These results highlight the potential of these bioreactors to be used in repeated fermentation cycles (minimum 10) without reducing their biocatalytic activity and maintaining their productivity at similar parameters to those obtained in the free yeast fermentation. Encapsulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae into the gellan gum beads plays a role in the effective application of immobilized yeast for the fermentation process.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast immobilized on marrow stem sunflower and polyacrylamide hydrogels

Biocatalysts with microorganisms immobilized on solid carriers could provide the solution for development of continuous industrial processes for ethanol obtaining by fermentation of sugars. In this study, modified polyacrylamide hydrogels and marrow stem sunflower are used as supports for Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast immobilization. The obtained structures are used for fermentation of molasses in batch systems. The free yeast cells are used as reference. The modification of polyacrilamide matrix with (2-hydroxyethyl)methacrylate has a positive effect on structure pore uniformity and fermentation performance. The mechanical properties of the obtained biocatalysts are compared. The novel natural matrix has net superior compression strength.

Bioethanol production from fermentable sugar juice

Bioethanol production from renewable sources to be used in transportation is now an increasing demand worldwide due to continuous depletion of fossil fuels, economic and political crises, and growing concern on environmental safety. Mainly, three types of raw materials, that is, sugar juice, starchy crops, and lignocellulosic materials, are being used for this purpose. This paper will investigate ethanol production from free sugar containing juices obtained from some energy crops such as sugarcane, sugar beet, and sweet sorghum that are the most attractive choice because of their cost-effectiveness and feasibility to use. Three types of fermentation process (batch, fed-batch, and continuous) are employed in ethanol production from these sugar juices. The most common microorganism used in fermentation from its history is the yeast, especially, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, though the bacterial species Zymomonas mobilis is also potentially used nowadays for this purpose. A number of factors related to the fermentation greatly influences the process and their optimization is the key point for efficient ethanol production from these feedstocks.

Improvement of bioethanol productivity of immobilized Saccharomyces bayanus with using sodium alginate-graft-poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) matrix

In this study, immobilization conditions and bioethanol production characteristics of immobilized Saccharomyces bayanus were investigated into sodium alginate-graft-poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone; NaAlg-g-PVP) matrix. The matrix that crosslinked with calcium clorid was used for immobilization of S. bayanus. Bioethanol productivity of the NaAlg-g-PVP matrix was found to increase from 4.21 to 4.84 gL(-1) h(-1) when compared with the convential sodium alginate matrix. The production of bioethanol was affected by initial glucose concentration and percentage of immobilized cell beads in fermentation medium. Bioethanol productivity was increased from 3.62 to 4.84 gL(-1) h(-1) while the glucose concentration increasing from 50 to 100 gL(-1). Due to the increase in percentage from 10 to 20 % of immobilized cell beads in the fermentation medium, bioethanol productivity was increased from 4.84 to 8.68 gL(-1) h(-1). The cell immobilized NaAlg-g-PVP beads were protected 92 % of initial activity after six repeated fermentation.

Ethanol fermentation technologies from sugar and starch feedstocks

This article critically reviews some ethanol fermentation technologies from sugar and starch feedstocks, particularly those key aspects that have been neglected or misunderstood. Compared with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the ethanol yield and productivity of Zymomonas mobilis are higher, because less biomass is produced and a higher metabolic rate of glucose is maintained through its special Entner-Doudoroff pathway. However, due to its specific substrate spectrum as well as the undesirability of its biomass to be used as animal feed, this species cannot readily replace S. cerevisiae in ethanol production. The steady state kinetic models developed for continuous ethanol fermentations show some discrepancies, making them unsuitable for predicting and optimizing the industrial processes. The dynamic behavior of the continuous ethanol fermentation under high gravity or very high gravity conditions has been neglected, which needs to be addressed in order to further increase the final ethanol concentration and save the energy consumption. Ethanol is a typical primary metabolite whose production is tightly coupled with the growth of yeast cells, indicating yeast must be produced as a co-product. Technically, the immobilization of yeast cells by supporting materials, particularly by gel entrapments, is not desirable for ethanol production, because not only is the growth of the yeast cells restrained, but also the slowly growing yeast cells are difficult to be removed from the systems. Moreover, the additional cost from the consumption of the supporting materials, the potential contamination of some supporting materials to the quality of the co-product animal feed, and the difficulty in the microbial contamination control all make the immobilized yeast cells economically unacceptable. In contrast, the self-immobilization of yeast cells through their flocculation can effectively overcome these drawbacks.