title: Recent advances in extracellular biopolymer flocculants.
abstract: Extracellular biopolymer flocculants (EBFs) are flocculating substances, consisting of polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, which are secreted in the culture broth by many microorganisms. Some of EBFs have attracted much attention as biodegradable and nontoxic substitutes for conventional chemical flocculants. This paper reviews the recent development of EBFs. Aspects discussed include an introduction to conventional chemical flocculants and EBFs, isolation of novel bioflocculant-producing microorganisms, culture conditions, chemical structure and molecular weight of EBFs, the physico-chemical factors affecting flocculating activity, fermentation process design and recent and emerging application fields of EBFs.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Forest Bio-materials Laboratory, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Industrial Biotechnology Group, University of Isfahan, Esfahan, Iran. Electronic address: h.salehizadeh@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salehizadeh
authors.affiliation: Advanced Forest Bio-materials Laboratory, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000737:chemistry; D005427:Flocculation; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D011134:Polysaccharides
keywords: Bioflocculant; Bioflocculation; Biopolymers; Exopolysaccharides; Flocculant; Flocculation; Wastewater treatment