Biodiesel Production Using a Banana Peel Extract-Mediated Highly Basic Heterogeneous Nanocatalyst

Ananya Satapathy, Kankana Saikia and Samuel Lalthazuala Rokhum ()
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Ananya Satapathy: Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Silchar 788010, Assam, India
Kankana Saikia: Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Silchar 788010, Assam, India
Samuel Lalthazuala Rokhum: Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Silchar 788010, Assam, India

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-21

Abstract: Greener methods for the production of nanoparticles (NPs) are highly investigated to minimize the harmfulness of chemical synthetic processes. In this study, CaO (calcium oxide) NPs were synthesized using extracts of banana ( Musa acuminata ) leaves. The precipitate of Ca(OH) 2 (calcium hydroxide) obtained from the precursor Ca(NO 3 ) 2 (calcium nitrate) was calcined at 900 °C in a muffle furnace to form CaO. The catalytic activity of the prepared CaO was studied in transesterification of soybean oil. From the 1 H-NMR analysis, a high soybean oil conversion of 98.0% was obtained under the optimum reaction conditions of 8 wt% of catalyst loading, 2 h reaction time, and a 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio at 65 °C temperature. 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, and FT-IR spectroscopic studies of the product proved the formation of biodiesel. The CaO nanocatalyst was characterized using XRD, SEM-EDS, TEM, FT-IR, XPS, and BET analyses. The average diameter of the catalyst was determined as 46.2 nm from TEM analyses. The catalyst can be used successfully even after five active reaction cycles without substantial loss in the activity of the catalyst.

Keywords: transesterification; biodiesel; heterogeneous catalyst; CaO; biosynthesis; Musa acuminata (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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