Valorification directions for marine algae

Abstract

Some resources such as soil, air and water are considered inexhaustible and renewable. But in reality, due to massive pollution, the quality of these resources is affected. Increasing quantities, together with the increasing complexity of pollutants, slow the natural processes of self-purification and self-purge. Current technologies used to clean and purify fail to restore the original resource quality. In this regard, algae have been introduced into various methods of treating polluted resources to improve current technologies or to replace them. Marine algae are photosynthetic aquatic plants, which become waste if they are not valorized. In the developed countries they are used as raw or secondary material in different industries. The most important issues of marine algae usage in various industrial applications (pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food, biofuel and sewage treatment industries) are reviewed in this paper, with a focus on their biosorption properties and valorification for accumulation of heavy metals from industrial wastewater.