Biodiesel can be prepared from various types of vegetable oils or animal fats with the aid of a catalyst.
Calcium oxide (CaO) is one of the prospective heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel synthesis. Modification
of CaO by impregnation on silica (SiO2) can improve the performance of CaO as catalyst. Egg shells and rice
husks as biomass waste can be used as raw materials for the preparation of the silica modified CaO catalyst.
The present study was directed to synthesize and characterize CaO impregnated SiO2 catalyst from biomass
waste and apply it as catalyst in biodiesel synthesis. The catalyst was synthesized by wet impregnation
method and characterized by x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and
basicity density. The activity of the catalyst in biodiesel synthesis was assayed at different molar ratios of
palm oil to methanol ranging from 1:6, 1:9, 1:12 and 1:15. The biodiesel composition was determined by gas
chromatography-mass spectroscopy and the properties of the biodiesel were also characterized. The results
showed that the CaO impregnated SiO2 catalyst was successfully synthesized based on confirmation by XRD
and XRF. The catalyst has a surface area, average pore diameter, total pore volume, and basicity density of
19.38 m2
/g, 3.22 nm, 0.0122 cm3
/g, and 3.4 mmol/g, respectively. The catalyst activity assay indicates that
the molar ratio of palm oil to methanol of 1:12 is the optimum condition for biodiesel synthesis. At this
molar ratio, 81.4% biodiesel yield was achieved, and it met the quality standards according to ASTM D
6751.
A new novel series of metalcomplexes are prepared from reactions between 2-benzoylthio- benzimidazole (L) with metal salts of Co (II) , Fe(III) and Rh (III) , while Pd(II) complex was obtained by mixing ligandsof 2-benzoylthiobenzimidazole (L) as primary ligand and bipyridine (L/)as secondary ligand as well as palladium chloride as metal salt in an ethanoic medium. The geometry of these compounds were identified using C.H.N.microanalysis, Ultraviolet–visible, Fourier transforms infrared, magnetic susceptibility, molar conductivity and flame atomic absorption (A.A). From the dataobtained by these spectral analyses, the molecular structures for Rh and Fe complexes were proposed to be octahedral geometry. A square planar const
... Show MoreA new novel series of metalcomplexes are prepared from reactions between 2-benzoylthiobenzimidazole (L) with metal salts of Co (II) , Fe(III) and Rh (III) , while Pd(II) complex was obtained by mixing ligandsof 2-benzoylthiobenzimidazole (L) as primary ligand and bipyridine (L/ )as secondary ligand as well as palladium chloride as metal salt in an ethanoic medium. The geometry of these compounds were identified using C.H.N.microanalysis, Ultraviolet–visible, Fourier transforms infrared, magnetic susceptibility, molar conductivity and flame atomic absorption (A.A). From the dataobtained by these spectral analyses, the molecular structures for Rh and Fe complexes were proposed to be octahedral geometry. A square planar construction is propo
... Show MoreThe study presents the modification of the Broyden-Flecher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) update (H-Version) based on the determinant property of inverse of Hessian matrix (second derivative of the objective function), via updating of the vector s ( the difference between the next solution and the current solution), such that the determinant of the next inverse of Hessian matrix is equal to the determinant of the current inverse of Hessian matrix at every iteration. Moreover, the sequence of inverse of Hessian matrix generated by the method would never approach a near-singular matrix, such that the program would never break before the minimum value of the objective function is obtained. Moreover, the new modification of BFGS update (H-vers
... Show MoreCatalase (EC 1.11.1.6) is a well known enzyme which exists in almost all living creatures exposing to oxygen (such as plants, bacteria, and animals). It is a very necessary enzyme to protect the cell from oxidative detriment by reactive oxygen species (ROS). The aim of this study is the partial purification and characterization of Catalase enzyme from Banana peels. In this study, fresh banana peels are treated with 70 % ethanol ,further separated with chloroform ,water and ethyl acetate respectively .The supernatant of the enzymatic sample which is treated with chloroform is loaded into gel filtration column with Sephadex G-100 (1.0 x 90 cm) equilibrated with pH7 buffer media (phosphate buffer 0.1 M). Kinetic studies of the purified en
... Show MoreIn this investigation, water-soluble N-Acetyl Cysteine Capped-Cadmium Telluride QDs (NAC/CdTe nanocrystals), utilizing N-acetyl cysteine as a stabilizer, were prepared to assess their potential in differentiating between DNA extracted from pathogenic bacteria (e.g. Escherichia coli isolated from urine specimen) and intact DNA (extracted from blood of healthy individuals) for biomedical sensing prospective. Following the optical characterization of the synthesized QDs, the XRD analysis illustrated the construction of NAC-CdTe-QDs with a grain size of 7.1 nm. The prepared NAC-CdTe-QDs exhibited higher PL emission features at of 550 nm and UV-Vis absorption peak at 300 nm. Additionally, the energy gap quantified via PL and UV–Vis were 2.2 eV
... Show MoreTitanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes have gained particular interest as a material for gas sensors because of their vertical arrays, prepared by the anodization procedure. The presence of several oxygen vacancies in these nanotubes facilitates gas diffusion and provides additional active sites. This study examined the impact of voltages on the process of depositing iron nanoparticles onto arrays of TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) for use as a gas sensor. The TNTs are manufactured using a straightforward and economical electrochemical anodization technique, specifically for gas sensor applications. By varying the deposition voltage (2-6 volts), ordered Fe-TNTs were efficiently manufactured using a simple two-step electrochemical process. It utili
... Show MoreIn this study, chemical oxidation was employed for the synthesis of polypyrrole (PPy) nanofiber. Furthermore, PPy has been subjected to treatment using nanoparticles of neodymium oxide (Nd2O3), which were produced and added in a certain ratio. The inquiry centered on the structural characteristics of the blend of polypyrrole and neodymium oxide after their combination. The investigation utilises X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR, and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) for PPy, 10%, 30%, and 50% by volume of Nd2O3. According to the electrochemical tests, it has been noted that the nanocomposites exhibit a substantial amount of pseudocapacitive activity.