Nickel ferrite nanoparticles induced improved fungal cellulase production using residual algal biomass and subsequent hydrogen production following dark fermentation

The present study reports nickel ferrite nanoparticles (NiFe₂O₄ NPs) induced enhanced production of crude cellulase enzyme using residual algal biomass of cyanobacteria Lyngbya limnetica as substrate. It is noticed that the residual algal substrate and NiFe₂O₄ NPs mediated crude cellulase exhibits nearly 2.5 fold enhanced filter paper activity after 72 h along with better efficiency in terms of pH and thermal stability as compared to the control system. Further, NiFe₂O₄ NPs mediated crude cellulase enzyme was employed for the enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw to produce sugar hydrolyzate. Subsequently, using bacterial strains Bacillus subtilisPF_1 the cumulative hydrogen ~ 1820 mL/L has been produced under the dark fermentation.