Abstract We report the preparation of chiral silica using a linear polysiloxane main chain with a preferred-handed helical structure as the template. Poly(methylvinyl siloxane) (PMVS) with a cysteine derivative side chain designated as PMVS-Cys was prepared using anionic polymerization and an ene-thiol reaction. PMVS-Cys forms a helical conformation in both solution and film via hydrogen bonding between amide groups at side chains. The helical structure remains during the calcination process, resulting in silica with helical structure. The silica with a helical structure shows optical activity.
Abstract This study established and investigated continuous macular pigment (MP) production with a lutein (L):zeaxanthin (Z) ratio of 4-5:1 by an MP-rich Chlorella sp. CN6 mutant strain in a continuous microalgal culture module. Chlorella sp. CN6 was cultured in a four-stage module for 10 days. The microalgal culture volume increased to 200 L in the first stage (6 days). Biomass productivity increased to 0.931 g/L/day with continuous indoor white light irradiation during the second stage (3 days). MP content effectively increased to 8.29 mg/g upon continuous, indoor white light and blue light-emitting diode irradiation in the third stage (1 day), and the microalgal biomass and MP concentrations were 8.88 g/L and 73.6 mg/L in the fourth stage, respectively. Using a two-step MP extraction process, 80 % of the MP was recovered with a high purity of 93 %, and its L:Z ratio was 4-5:1.