Renewable energy production from novel and non-edible seed oil of Cordia dichotoma using nickel oxide nano catalyst

Renewable energy sources such as biodiesel have gained attention due to their pollution free and eco-friendly nature. The use of heterogenous nanocatalyst is preferred in biodiesel production to their ease of recovery and recyclability. In this study, biodiesel was produced from nonedible Cordia dichotoma seed oil using NiO nanocatalyst. NiO nanocatalyst was prepared with aqueous leaf extract of Anagallis arvensis L. Innovative tech-niques like X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, energy diffraction X-ray and thermogravimetric analysis were applied to analyse Nickel oxide nanoparticles. The maximum biodiesel yield of 94 % was calcu-lated from methanol to oil molar ratio of 7:1, catalyst loading 0.16 (wt.%), reaction time 115 min and tem-perature 80 degrees C. Nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed the production of methyl ester (1H NMR and 13C NMR). The results of Gas Chromatography/Mass spectroscopy signified four distinctive peaks of methyl esters with 9-Octadecenoic acid methyl ester was identified as the major fatty acid methyl ester. Determined fuel properties of Cordia dichotoma methyl ester such as viscosity (8.24 mm2/s), density (0.962 kg/m3), flash point (99 degrees C) cloud point (-8 degrees C) and pour point (-10 degrees C) were comparable with international standards of ASTM D-6571, EN 14214 and China GB/T 20828-2007. Minimum sulfur content of 0.0001 % has elucidated the eco-friendly and clean nature of synthesized biodiesel of Cordia dichotoma.