Microwave assisted extraction of lipid from Nannochloropsis gaditana microalgae using [EMIM]Cl

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been recognized as superior solvent due to their exclusive properties, green and varied applications in chemical industries. ILs can be apply as solvent in extracting lipid from algal biomass. This study examined the application of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) with ILs to extract total lipids from microalgae for biodiesel production. 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride ([EMIM]Cl) IL was utilized as the solvent and microwave irradiation applied for the pretreatment method. The experimental findings were compared with those from conventional method using Soxhlet extraction. For [EMIM]Cl plus microwave irradiation assisted extraction, it was reveald that the highest lipid yield was achieved 13.9% in the optimum condition at 3.3 w/v of solid loading, process duration of 5 min, temperature of 80 °C and microwave power of 800 W. Also, microwave irradiation with IL had improved the lipid extraction up to 3.1 times compared to the Soxhlet result. The findings from this study displays that the MAE with IL has the potential to be applied in extracting compounds from biomass.