# Microalgal Biomass Generation via Electroflotation: A Cost-Effective Dewaring Technology
## 8 Future Perspective  
It is evident from the previous sections that the electroflotation harbors great potential as an effective dewatering method for the large-scale production of microalgal biomass. The main advantage of utilizing the electroflotation approach for microalgal dewatering is the capability for microbubble generation, which allows for merits such as large surface area-to-volume ratio to remove tiny particles, elevated efficiency of flotation, operational ease, and compactness to promote large-scale microalgae production [101]. Despite the aforementioned merits, the dependency of the process on current flow can, thus, be limited by a low conductivity of the medium, which will inadvertently lead to the application of high current densities. To avoid this and make the process useful economically, a certain conductivity is required to maintain excellent current flow in freshwater systems especially [71]. Further, it can be noted that Ti is widely used as the cathode material, during the electroflotation process in corrosive water, due to its high stability. The Ti cathodes are, however, costly and may increase the total cost for large-scale microalgal production. Consequently, nickel (Ni) has been used as the cathode material in recent times, since it possesses a low overpotential for hydrogen evolution, which lessens energy consumption [102]. Furthermore, reactor design of a single-stage system with a vertical flow has been revealed to be highly beneficial in elevated separation efficiency, due to their uniform flow distribution. However, certain fragments may drop from the scum skimmer and separation chamber, which may not lead to floating again [101]. Moreover, it is possible to regulate bubble size via applied current in electroflotation with minimum turbulence and this approach has been identified to be highly safe, when the system runs at a low voltage of 5-20 V [76]. In addition, this approach can be used as an alternative to DAF, when the dissolution of air is challenging. Electroflotation will increase the density of sludge and lower the water losses [103]. Besides, it is problematic using common metals and alloys as anode since they may lead to severe electrochemical corrosion, thereby limiting the usage of electroflotation processes in large-scale applications and industries [104]. The phenomenon of oxide layer formation on the electrode surface is called electrode passivation, which may further reduce the efficiency of microalgal dewatering process via electroflotation [105]. Even though the addition of chloride ions, regular electrode cleaning, turbulence increment, and polarity inversion are available as alternatives to avoid electrode passivation in electroflotation [106], the costs involved in these processes are high [103]. Thus, there is a need for an alternative and nonconventional approach in electroflotation approach to overcome these challenges and increase its efficiency in large-scale dewatering for microalgal biomass production. The efficiency of electrodes in electroflotation methods can be improved by coating them with catalytic nanoparticles. For instance, [PERSON] et al. (2020) recently immobilized TiO\({}_{2}\) nanoparticles in the electrodes to improve electroflotation efficiency along with microreactor [107]. Further, it can be noted that all other limitations of the electroflotation method are related to the conductivity and voltage. Thus, alterations in the surface charge of microalgae via catalytic nanoparticles or ions, that are released by nanomaterials can increase the electric charge potential and can help in elevating the electroflotation ability. Recently, [PERSON] et al. (2015) utilized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for rapid algal separation, and examined the influence of surface coating, ultraviolet irradiation and magnetic field on the efficiency of the process [108].