| Title | Applications of Unmodified Geothermal Silica for Protein Extraction |
|---|---|
| Authors | Halldor G. SVAVARSSON, Hronn ARNARDOTTIR, Albert ALBERTSSON and Asa BRYNJÓLFSDOTTIR |
| Year | 2015 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | Geothermic silica, Chromatographic, Adsorption, Protein separation, Phycocyanin |
| Abstract | Silica deposits have been considered an undesirable byproduct of geothermal power production and large quantities of it can be extracted from geothermal fluid. Here we introduce an adsorption application of silica, precipitated out of geothermal fluid discharged from a geothermal powerplant in Svartsengi on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland. Its ability to separate protein from biomass was manifested by selective adsorption of blue colored protein, C-phycocyanin, from disrupted coccoid blue-green algae cultivated in geothermal fluid at the Blue Lagoon Research Center. Upon adsorption and subsequent elution the purity of the extracted protein, measured as the ratio of the light absorbance of 620 and 280 nm, increased considerably or up to five times the original purity. Analysis of the silica, using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) adsorption confirmed it is highly porous, has a high specific surface area and is amorphous. Its adsorption ability is attributed to this high surface area and open structure. Our results could facilitate utilization of a mostly unused byproduct of geothermal power plants as chromatographic material. |