In this study, we demonstrated the synthesis of novel aminoparticles with Fe3+, Mn2+, and Cu2+ placed in
active metal centers by means of a sol?gel reaction with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as a
precursor, thereby forming ?O(CH2)3NH2 organo-functionalities on cationic metals. The protonated amine
groups led to the efficient flocculation of microalgae which occurred within as little as 5 min. To our
surprise, the aminoparticles exhibited a Fenton-like activity when 1% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was
introduced. Just like any Fenton-like reaction, it is plausible that NOH radicals are produced through the
activation of H2O2 by the metal atoms embedded in the aminoparticles, bringing about cell damage and
effectively releasing internal lipids from wet microalgae biomass. The efficiency of lipid extraction with the
Fe-aminoparticle in the presence of 1% H2O2 was 26.70% and nearly 100% of the extracted oil was
converted to biodiesel. It is believed that our multiple-functionality aminoparticles represent a promising
means of substantially reducing the unit cost of microalgal biorefineries in general and microalgae-based
biodiesel production in particular.