STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO CELL WALL BIOMASS IN THE
ULVA SEAWEED GENUS

Abstract

Climate change is a notorious and serious problem that needs to be attended with no delays. Mitigation of fossil fuel emissions are mandatory to reduce the production of green-house gases, however, as population increases, the global energy demand increases as well, with fossil fuels acting as the main energy source, globally. Worldwide, different strategies towards the development of sustainable societies applying circular economy principles and decarbonization of the industrial infrastructures are among the most important goals to achieve for the coming years. The use of biomass to accomplish such goals by producing bio-derived commodities and biofuels have gained track on the last two decades. One important source of biomass that has been highly studied in the recent years is the one coming from the aquatic feedstock called macro algae, which is normally used for food and cosmetic applications. However, the application of the macro algae to produce the so-called third generation biofuels or other chemical commodities, although having some drawbacks, seem to lead to promising results for the coming years with more and more mature technologies for such tasks. Belonging to the genus Ulva, the sea lettuce, a group of green algae have been identified as a potential candidate to be used to produce bio-derived products. In this work, through a literature review, the effects of the use of carbon and oil worldwide were appraised, as well as some of the most studied alternatives to mitigate the negative effects caused to the environment using fossil fuels. The possible use of macro algae as a promising candidate to produce bio-derived products was also highlighted. Using an Ulva sp. collected from the coast at county Durham, qualitative analysis of the cellulose and ulvan biochemical fractions were obtained. Through Fourier-Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy, the possible existence of acetylated cellulose in algae was explored. Mass-spectrometry analysis was performed to clarify the obtained results from the Fourier-Transformed Infrared analysis and finally, Thin-Layer chromatography analysis was performed to assess whether the presence of the endotransglycosylase enzymes could catalyze the linking between wall polysaccharides from the sample and some oligosaccharides. In this work, a better understanding of the composition from the Ulva sp. collected from Durham coast was gained, developing a foundation for more in-depth focused research of ulvan biomass as a resource to produce high quality biofuels in the coming future.