A novel polyethylene-chlorella composite. I. Characterization of chlorellabiologically fixing CO2

Chlorella, a microalga massively produced from biological fixation of CO2, was investigated to evaluate the possibility of processing it with polyethy lene. Chlorella grain, a hollow aggregate sphere constituted of chlorella c ells binding with each other by hydrogen bonds, exhibits a higher thermal s tability than cellulose and strong resistance to cracking under mechanical forces up to 150 MPa, possibly due to the spherical structure and unique ma nner of assembly of chlorella cells. These characteristics of chlorella str ongly indicate that it can resist deformation and thermal decomposition in a compounding process with polyethylene. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.