Fermentative hydrogen production from macroalgae Laminaria japonica pretreated by microwave irradiation

Pretreatment is an essential procedure to enhance the biodegradability when algae biomass is used as substrate for fermentative hydrogen production, In this study the potential of microwave pretreatment for enhancing the hydrogen production from macro algae biomass Laminaria japonica was investigated. Microwave pretreatment at different temperatures (100-180 degrees C, 30 min) was explored, algae biomass disruption increased with increasing temperature, while highest hydrogen yield of 15.8 mL/g TSadded was obtained from 160 degrees C microwave treated algae biomass. Hydrogen production can be indicated by the dehydrogenase activity. After the microwave treatment, hydrogen production process altered from butyrate-type to acetate-type fermentation. Maximum hydrogen yield was enhanced by 1.9 fold compared with the control test. Indicating microwave treatment can be a good candidate in enhancing the hydrogen production from macroalgae biomass. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.