Present Status and Development of Algal Pulp for Hand-Made Paper Making Technology: A Review

Algae are highly diverse in their habitat and properties: unicellular such as Chlorella sp. [1]. And the diatoms, to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelp, a large brown alga. Algae are eukaryotes though Cyanobacteria or Blue-green algae (like Lyngbya) [2], are Prokaryotic; but some researchers don’t consider Cyanobacteria as algae [3,4]. Algal Collection of the US National Herbarium (National Museum of Natural History 2008) consists of approximately 320,500 dried specimens, which, although not exhaustive, gives an idea of the order of magnitude of the number of algal species (that number remains unknown). Algae play a promising role in carbon sequestration [5] and accounts for 50 % of global photosynthesis [6]. Algae grow fast and efficiently absorb solar energy by means of major antenna pigments like chlorophylls, phycobiliproteins and carotenoids to convert it to chemical energy as triacylglycerols. The role of algae in Greenhouse gas diminution is inevitable. On the other hand, Algae growing in paddy fields have become an unwanted nuisance for the local farmers as the weeds compete for the soil nutrients and a lot of energy and labour is wasted in removal of these weeds through hand-picking or manual efforts. It was reported that after fertilizer applications (ammonium sulfate), Spirogyra [7] and Euglena [8] was so abundant that rice farmers had to inter-fill their crops to prevent algae from smothering their rice plants [9]. Thus, alternate biomass utilization of these algae as substitutes in pulp formulation for the production of handmade paper can pave the way for productive usage of these algae as a means of alternate income generation to the rural people.