Plasmon-enhanced microalgal growth in miniphotobioreactors

Photoactivity of green microalgae is nonmonotonic across the electromagnetic spectrum. Experiments on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (green alga) and Cyanothece 51142 (green-blue alga) show that wavelength specific backscattering in the blue region of the spectrum from Ag nanoparticles, caused by localized surface plasmon resonance, can promote algal growth by more than 30%. The wavelength and light flux of the backscattered field can be controlled by varying the geometric features and/or concentration of the nanoparticles.