Date/Time
Date(s) - 27/10/2021
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

In-Person Event: Arthur N. Bourns Building Room 102

Remote Registration: ttps://bit.ly/3vstQBL

Title
Developing new efficient methods to harvest microalgae using AFM and FluidFM technologies

Abstract
Microalgae are a promising resource for biofuel production, although their industrial use is limited by
the lack of effective harvesting techniques. My work focuses on developing efficient and sustainable
ways to harvest them using flocculation/flotation technique. This technique first consists in a
flocculation step where cells are aggregated into large flocs that can then be captured by rising
microbubbles. Microbubbles bring the flocs to the suspension’s surface, allowing their easy separation
from water. In this context, we use atomic force microscopy techniques to understand the molecular
mechanisms underlying microalgae flocculation. In addition, recent developments using FluidFM
technology allows us to take the next step and probe the interactions directly between microbubbles
and cells. Understanding these interactions between cells or between cells and bubbles paves the way
for the development of cost-effective harvesting processes that will help in making microalgae-based
biofuel production economically viable on an industrial scale.

Dr. Cécile Formosa-Dague
CNRS researcher at Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI), INSA de Toulouse, France.
I realized my PhD between 2012 and 2015 at the Laboratory for
Analysis and Architecture of the Systems (LAAS-CNRS) in Toulouse,
where I worked on important issues related to multidrug-resistant
microorganisms using AFM. After that, I joined Y. Dufrêne team at the
Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) in Belgium, where I pushed
further the technological concepts developed during my PhD to study
biofilm formation in bacteria. In 2017, thanks to a Marie Curie grant,
I integrated TBI where I worked on developing interdisciplinary
approaches to study microalgae and their interactions with their
environment, still using AFM techniques. Finally in 2019 I obtained a permanent position at Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), to continue and develop these research activities on
microalgae, in TBI, and to work on new techniques based on FluidFM technology.