Transparent polyvinyl-alcohol cryogel as immobilisation matrix for continuous biohydrogen production by phototrophic bacteria

Table 1 Summary of key examples of materials applied to immobilisation of phototrophic bacteria

Matrix material	Organism immobilised	Biocompatibility	Transparency	Diffusion resistance	Mechanical stability	Chemical stability	Refs
Alginate	Rhodopseudomonas palustris Photosynthetic consortium Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum^a	*Good*	*Good*	*Good*	Poor	Poor	[6,7,8,9]
Agar	Rhodopseudomonas palustris	Fair–good	*Good*	Fair	Poor	Poor	[6, 10, 11]
Polyacrylamide	Rhodospirillum rubrum	Poor	*Good*	Fair–good	*Good*	*Good*	[12, 13]
Carrageenan	Rhodopseudomonas capsulata Rhodospirillum rubrum Rhodopseudomonas palustris	Fair–good	*Good*	*Good*	Poor	Poor	[6, 13, 14]
Chitosan	Rhodobacter sphaeroides	Fair	Fair	Fair	Fair	Fair	[15]
Boric acid crosslinked PVA	Rhodopseudomonas palustris Rhodobacter sphaeroides	Poor–fair	*Good*	*Good*	*Good*	*Good*	[16, 17]
PVA cryogel	Various; non-photosynthetic	Fair–good^b	Poor	*Good*	*Good–excellent*^b	*Excellent*	[18,19,20,21]
PVA–glycerol cryogel	Rhodopseudomonas palustris	*Good*	*Good*	*Good*	*Excellent*	*Excellent* [22]	This study

ISSN: 2731-3654