Higher Degree by Research Application Portal

Two Ph.D. scholarships are available for candidates to pursue the following project.

This research serves to conflate C1 feedstocks, nitrates, water and photons to achieve C10+ chemistry through carbon-based catalysts.  It aims to develop a novel method for significantly increasing the production of valuable pigments like the blue pigment phycocyanin, orange pigment beta carotene, and red pigment astaxanthin by combining nanocarbons and cyanobacteria with following objectives:

a.     boosting pigment production for selected strains of micro algae/cyanobacteria (e.g. dunaliella salina, which is known to be rich in beta carotene, and halospirulina tapeticola, which is known to be rich in phycocyanin).

identify suitable nanocarbons by selecting and functionalising nanocarbons (e.g., graphene and graphene oxide quantum dots) as metal-free carbon photoactive materials to enhance photosensitivity of the cell mass.

c.     optimise stimulation methods by pulsed-light protocols, namely, instantaneous light intensity, pulse duration and cycle time to achieve maximal conversion efficiency at far higher light intensities, and hence far greater rates of pigment production, relative to all experiments to date,

optimise cultivation by establishing optimal growth conditions for cyanobacteria/micro algae strains, thereby maximising pigment production while maintaining viability by optimal degrees of induced turbulence and optimal reactor temperatures,

e.     investigate the spectral sensitivity of pigment production with the prospect of maximal productivity for monochromatic red light (as for conventional algal photo-catalysis) that can be provided by high-efficiency, low-cost red LEDs,

Scale-up production by designing a scalable and sustainable method for culturing optimised cyanobacteria/microalgae strains for large-scale pigment and biomass production, Economic evaluation of the enhanced method for pigment production in comparison to current practice,

Environmental considerations assessing the potential environmental/health impact of using nanocarbons and ensure safe handling throughout the research process.

Prof. Hui Tong Chua

email id: huitong.chua@uwa.edu.au