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CC BY 4.0 · Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2025; 02: a26354606
DOI: 10.1055/a-2635-4606
Original Article

Unveiling the Role of the Microalga Nannochloropsis gaditana in the Biogenic Synthesis of Zinc Oxide

Susanna Tinello
1   Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
2   Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
,
Chiara Mazzariol
1   Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
,
Carlo Pilotto
1   Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
2   Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
,
Paolo Dolcet
1   Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
3   Institut für Technische Chemie und Polymerchemie (ITCP), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
,
Giorgio Perin
2   Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
,
Matteo Battistolli
2   Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
,
Federica Sandrelli
2   Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
,
Tomas Morosinotto
2   Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
,
Silvia Gross 
1   Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
3   Institut für Technische Chemie und Polymerchemie (ITCP), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
› Author Affiliations
Supported by: Diamond Light Source SP30680
Funding Information This research was supported by the Diamond Light Source for beamtime (proposal SP30680).
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Abstract

The increasing demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable approaches to materials synthesis calls, inter alia, for the development of biogenic methods to produce inorganic compounds by exploiting biological macromolecules and organisms. This study focuses on the optimization of a one-pot green synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) particles using microalgae extracts as a biogenic agent. Microalgae serve as an environmentally friendly platform for biotechnological applications due to their ability to promote the synthesis of valuable chemicals, thanks to their active components, such as enzymes. A systematic investigation of the experimental parameters revealed that both the reaction temperature and the concentration of microalgae extract significantly influenced the crystallite size of ZnO nanoparticles. In addition, the role of sodium hydroxide as a precipitating agent when used in combination with microalgae extract was addressed and compared with existing literature. The results indicate that microalgae extract can act as a scaffold to promote the controlled growth of ZnO particles. Antimicrobial tests also showed that ZnO particles synthesized with microalgae exhibited comparable antimicrobial activity with respect to ZnO produced by conventional methods. These results highlight the potential of microalgae as biogenic agents for the green synthesis of ZnO particles with tunable structural and antimicrobial properties.

Keywords

Green chemistry - Zinc oxide - Microalgae - Biogenic

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 05 November 2024

Accepted after revision: 10 June 2025

Article published online:
04 July 2025

© 2025. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

Bibliographical Record
Susanna Tinello, Chiara Mazzariol, Carlo Pilotto, Paolo Dolcet, Giorgio Perin, Matteo Battistolli, Federica Sandrelli, Tomas Morosinotto, Silvia Gross. Unveiling the Role of the Microalga Nannochloropsis gaditana in the Biogenic Synthesis of Zinc Oxide. Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2025; 02: a26354606.
DOI: 10.1055/a-2635-4606
 

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