Biopolymer catalyst for biodiesel production by functionalisation of radiation grafted flax fibres with diethylamine under optimised conditions

Publication date: Available online 22 June 2019Source: Radiation Physics and ChemistryAuthor(s): Rihab Musaad Moawia, Mohamed Mahmoud Nasef, Nor Hasimah Mohamed, Adnan Ripin, Masoumeh ZakeriAbstractA biopolymer-based catalyst with an alkaline moiety was prepared by radiation induced grafting (RIG) of glycidylmethaacrylate (GMA) onto flax fibres followed by functionalisation with diethyl amine (DEA) and treatment with NaOH. The density of amine loading was tuned by optimisation of the reaction parameters including DEA concentration, reaction temperature, and time using the Box–Behnken Design (BBD) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The chemical composition, morphology and structure of the alkaline catalyst were examined using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Thermal properties of the catalyst were examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The optimum parameters for obtaining a maximum amine density (3.65 mmol/g) in the catalyst were 79.8% DEA concentration, 80 °C reaction temperature, and 2.9 h reaction time. The catalyst was tested for transesterification of cottonseed oil with methanol. A maximum 88.6% conversion to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) was achieved at optimum parameters of 33:1 methanol/oil molar ratio, 2.5 wt% catalyst concentration and 60 °C reaction temperature. The results indicate that radiation induce...
Source: Radiation Physics and Chemistry - Category: Physics Source Type: research