11. Recent Updates and Application Prospects of Biopolymers from Bioflocculants for Wastewater Treatment

Biopolymers are polymers which are produced by living organisms, which separate solids from liquids; this property is used in wastewater treatment. The biopolymers made from bioflocculants aggregate solid particles and help in sedimentation and suspension of debris. Biopolymers are especially used here because of their biocompatibility nature which does not destroy the natural habitat of life forms in water and its consumers and retain the chemical nature of water. They separate the waste based on mechanisms such as adsorption, charge neutralization, net trapping, sweeping, etc. These mechanisms are due to the properties such as low intrinsic viscosity and high charge density. Biopolymers are derived from many sources such as plants, microorganisms, and animals, and when grown, they secrete several nutrients such as lipids, polysaccharides, etc., in the broth, which are taken as extracellular biopolymer flocculants (EBFs). EBFs have numerous advantages over conventional chemical polymers since they are biodegradable, biocompatible, suitable for diverse applications, and cheap to produce, generate less waste, and are proven to be more efficient.