Process optimization, green chemistry balance and technoeconomic analysis of biodiesel production from castor oil using heterogeneous nanocatalyst.

In the present work, zinc doped calcium oxide was used as a nanocatalyst for biodiesel production from castor oil. The optimal conditions of biodiesel conversion and green chemistry balance were obtained with response surface methodology. Five green chemistry parameters like carbon efficiency, atom economy, reaction mass efficiency, stoichiometric factor and environmental factor were optimized. The sustainable biodiesel yield 84.9% and green chemistry balance 0.902 was achieved at methanol to oil molar ratio 10.5:1, temperature 57 °C, time 70 min, and catalyst concentration 2.15%. The synthesized biodiesel was characterized by GCMS and FTIR, and physic-chemical properties were determined. Based on experimental study annually 20.3 million kg capacity plant was simulated using SuperPro designer. The sensitivity analysis of oil purchase cost and biodiesel selling price on ROI, payback period, IRR and NPV were investigated. The optimization and technoeconomic analysis provided a sustainable platform for commercial based biodiesel production.

Biodiesel production from Calophyllum inophyllum oil using zinc doped calcium oxide (Plaster of Paris) nanocatalyst.

The present study was mainly focused on the production of biodiesel from Calophyllum inophyllum oil. The oil was characterized by GC-MS and stored for biodiesel production. The heterogeneous catalyst was synthesized for effective production of biodiesel. The synthesized catalyst was found to have good activity and stability. The surface and element characterization of zinc doped calcium oxide was characterized by SEM and EDAX. The size of nanocomposite was found to be in the range of 14.3-65.6 nm. The EDAX has confirmed the presence of zinc on the surface of the calcium oxide. The maximum biodiesel yield of 89.0% (v/v) was obtained at 55 °C in 80 min and catalyst concentration of 6% (w/v). The optimized methanol:oil molar ratio was obtained at 9:1 for the production of biodiesel. The produced methyl ester was confirmed by GC-MS analysis.

Synthesis, characterization and synergistic activity of cerium-selenium nanobiocomposite of fungal l-asparaginase against lung cancer.

Cerium selenium nanobiocomposites are novel lung cancer drug as they possess combined anti-cancer property of nanocomposite with l-asparaginase working in synergetic manner. Cerium selenium nanobiocomposites were synthesized using simple co-precipitation method. The size of the nanocomposite was found to be in the range 60-90 nm. Maximum absorption was observed using UV spectrum in the range of 350-490 nm. The nanobiocomposites was characterized using H-NMR and FTIR analysis it was found that secondary alkyl, allylic carbon, monosubstituted alkenes and sp2 hybridized CH bonds of alkenes were involved in binding of cerium and selenium nanoparticles with l-asparaginase for the formation of cerium selenium nanobiocomposite. The spherical shape of the cerium selenium nanobiocomposites were confirmed using SEM. Anticancer activity was checked by performing MTT assay resulting in 70.84% and 48.78% toxicity for maximum concentration of 1000 (µg/ml) and IC50 concentration of 125 (µg/ml) respectively on A549 lung cancer cell line using fluorescent microscopic analysis.

Ultrasonic assisted green synthesis of Fe and Fe/Zn bimetallic nanoparticles for invitro cytotoxicity study against HeLa cancer cell line.

Nanomaterial synthesis for the biomedical application is the latest improvement in nanotechnology. These nanomaterials can be used as therapeutic agent, drug carrier and also as activating agents. When the nanoparticles are prepared from biological sources, they show better medical competence with fewer side effects. Iron and zinc oxide nanoparticle have been found to exhibit good antimicrobial property; hence this bimetallic nanoparticle can be used for biomedical applications. Therefore the present work focused on synthesis of iron oxide and Fe/Zn bimetallic nano particle by Coriandrum sativum leaf extract as reducing agent using ultrasonic assisted method. The UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to confirm the synthesized nanoparticle. The crystallinity and shape of the particle formed was confirmed by XRD and SEM. The HeLa cell line and normal cell line were used to find the invitro cytotoxic activity of iron oxide and Fe/Zn bimetallic nanoparticle. Fe/Zn bimetallic nanoparticle and Iron oxide nanoparticle showed 61.96% and 54.95% cytotoxicity at 200 µg/ml concentration respectively against HeLa cancer cell line.

Biodiesel production from castor oil using heterogeneous Ni doped ZnO nanocatalyst.

In the present study, castor oil with high free fatty acid was used for biodiesel production using heterogeneous Ni doped ZnO nanocatalyst. Ni doped ZnO nanocomposite calcinated at 800 °C has shown better catalytic activity. Process parameters on heterogeneous catalysis of castor oil into biodiesel were optimized using conventional and Response Surface Methodology (RSM). RSM was found more accurate in estimating the optimum conditions with higher biodiesel yield (95.20%). The optimum conditions for transesterification was found to be oil to methanol molar ratio of 1:8, catalyst loading 11% (w/w), reaction temperature of 55 °C for 60 min of reaction time by response surface method. The reusability studies showed that the nanocatalyst can be reused efficiently for 3 cycles.

Ultrasound assisted phytosynthesis of iron oxide nanoparticle.

The present work deals with the ultrasound assisted green synthesis of iron oxide nano particle using Coriandrum sativum leaf extract as a reducing agent. The synthesized iron oxide nanoparticle was confirmed by UV spectra. The characterization was done to know more about morphology and size of the particle by SEM analysis which shows spherical particles with size ranging from 20 to 90nm. The antimicrobial activity of the leaf extract and the synthesized nanoparticles was studied against the pathogens Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus niger. The ultrasound assisted iron oxide nanoparticle shows higher scavenging activity and antimicrobial activity compared with iron oxide nanoparticle synthesized by magnetic stirrer and Coriandrum sativum leaf extract.