###### Abstract  
C-Phyococyanin (PC) and B-phycoerythrin (PE) are light-harvesting water-soluble phyocipitous from microalgae that belong mainly to the cyanobacteria and rhodophytes families. Different methods have been developed for PC and PE extraction and purification from microalgae, and offer a high potential for their use as additives in sectors such as food and cosmetics. However, the main limitations of using these dyes are the sensitivity of their environmental factors, such as light fastness, temperature, and pH. We successfully employed safe lamellar nanoclays such as montmorillonite (M) and Laponite (L) for phyocolipproteins stabilization, as we did before with other natural dyes. We obtained a wide color gamut from blues to pink by combining four different factors under synthesis conditions: three dye concentrations; two laminar nanoclay sizes; a two nanoclay surface modifiers combination with cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) and a coupling agent (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane. The experimental conditions were defined according to a multilevel factorial design of experiment (DOE) to study the factors interacting in the final hybrid pigment characteristics. In both M and L, the d001 distance (nm) increased due to PC and PE adsorption. The best conditions to increase the basal space depend on the nanoclay structure, and it is better to use the surfactant for M, and silane modification for L. In addition, optical and thermal PE and PC properties significantly improved. We show the optimal synthesis conditions to increase PC and PE adsorption using the high dye concentration, with surfactant and silane depending on the nanoclay. The hybrid pigments from these phyocolipproteins offer the opportunity to perform several industrial applications, including in polymer additives, cosmetics, and packaging. pypococyanin; phycoerythrin; stabilization; statistical design of experiments; montmorillonite; laponite; hybrid pigments +
Footnote †: journal: Applied Sciences  
**Citation:** [PERSON]; [PERSON] [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]. common in nature, but there is still a long way to go from the laboratory scale to the market place. Fungi, bacteria and microalgae provide carotenoids or phycocyanin at the industrial level [1; 2]. Phycocyanin (PC) is one of the main pigments of the alga _Arthrospira platensis_, a protein from the phycobiliprotein family characterized by its intense blue color and a nutraceutical compound with antioxidant activity. The PC food grade is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) food and employed as a dye in food product formulations, and also in cosmetics, alcoholic beverages, biotechnology and medicine (drugs) [3]. In this context, PC has been mainly studied as a natural colorant for dairy products, yogurts and other beverages [4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9]. However, the application of this pigment-protein complex compound is limited, mostly due to its lack of stability to heat, light and acidic conditions. When applied as a natural food colorant, degradation of color, concentration and antioxidant activity often occurs due to high temperatures during food processing. PC gradually changes from light blue to faint blue, and this transformation is a disadvantage in industry because of the resulting unattractive hue [10]. Several techniques have been used to prevent thermal PC degradation, such as the addition of a stabilizer, pH adjustment and encapsulation [11]. Phycoerythrin (PE) is a major light-harvesting pigment of red algae, and the red algae _Porphyridium crucantum_ is an important source of this biomolecule and can be used as a natural dye in several applications for its unique pink color, high absorption coefficient and marked fluorescence properties, such as high quantum yield and marked Stokes' shift [12].