Cationic inulin: a plant based natural biopolymer for algal biomass harvesting

The synthesis of cationic inulin (CI) and its application in algal biomass harvesting have been investigated. (3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) trimethylammonium chloride (CHPTAC) was used as the etherifying reagent to introduce quaternary amine groups onto the backbone of the biopolymer. The resulting cationized adduct was characterized by various physicochemical techniques such as intrinsic viscosity measurement, elemental analysis (C, H, N and O), FTIR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. The algal flocculation efficacy of the synthesized product was studied through standard jar test procedure. High removal efficiency of 88.61% within 15 min was achieved at the optimal flocculant dosage (60 mg/L), for fresh water green algae, viz., Botryococcus sp.