Volume 59, Issue 328, April 2023

Morphological effect of surface modified, nanoflower and nanotube zinc oxide catalysts for biodiesel production

Kamaluddeen Suleiman Kabo¹, Abdul Rahim Yacob², Muhammad Suleiman Darma^1♦, Bello Oluwasesan Michael¹, Ikechukwu Ogadimma Alisi¹, Abdu Muhammad Bello³

¹Department of Applied Chemistry, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina, Nigeria
²Department of Chemistry, University Technology, Malaysia
³Department of Chemistry, Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Applied Chemistry, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, P.M.B 5001, Katsina State Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Biodiesel is an alternative biofuel that could help to reduce the use of fossil fuels and protect the environment. However, its production is still challenged by catalyst development, evaluation and process optimization. In this research, surface modified nanoparticles (SM-ZnO), nanoflowers (NF-ZnO) and nanotubes (NT-ZnO) Zinc oxide catalysts were developed and used in the methanolysis production of biodiesel from rice bran oil (RBO) without any doping at catalyst loading of 3.7%, methanol to oil ratio 1:9, temperature of 65oC and reaction time 180 mins. Catalysts were characterized by field emission scanning microscopy (FESEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Infra-red (FTIR) and basic concentration back titration analyses and biodiesel yield was calculated using NMR analysis. Results obtained show that the nanoparticles were successfully prepared from direct precipitation, nanoflowers and nanotubes through hydrothermal method without the use of any surfactant or templating agent. Moreover, the results of transesterification activity of the nano structured compounds showed that commercially available ZnO has biodiesel yield of 8.37%, nanoparticles 35.34%, nanoflowers 34.27% and nanotubes 42.35%. Thus, the above structure modifications helped in the preparation of new transesterification catalysts with increased activity in comparison to commercial one, the best being nanotubes which demonstrated highest biodiesel conversion and suitability for use at lower reaction conditions.

Keywords: Nanoparticles, Nanoflowers, Nanotubes, Methanolysis, Rice bran oil, Biodiesel, Structure modification

Discovery, 2023, 59, e37d1036

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Published: April 2023