Ionic liquids for the fractionation of microalgae biomass

Microalgae have emerged as one of the most promising sources of renewable biomass. However, considerable challenges must be addressed in order to improve the commercial outlook for the production of commodity chemicals. The largest challenge remains the energy intensive and consequently costly process of microalgae harvesting and drying. Ionic liquids have found a niche application in this area by allowing the extraction of lipids from wet biomass at low temperatures in less time than traditional lipid extraction methods. A number of recent studies have advanced the study of wet extraction of microalgae using ionic liquids and elucidated some of the limitations of this process. However, the most promising avenue for ionic liquid-based wet extraction lies in the fractionation and recovery of multiple biomass products such as lipids, carbohydrates, and carotenoids, in a single process.