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Catalytic boost for cheaper biodiesel production
The Hindu
Scientists develop water-repellent catalyst for cost-effective biodiesel production, potentially reducing production costs by over 60%.
GUWAHATI
A team of scientists from Assam, Odisha, China, and the United Kingdom have developed a water-repellent catalyst that can cut the cost of producing “environmentally benign” biodiesel substantially from the current levels.
The process of arriving at the “spherical superhydrophobic activated carbon catalyst” to withstand water by-product during the production of biodiesel – pursued as a substitute for diesel, an exhaustible fossil fuel – has been published in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed Advanced Functional Materials, a high impact journal of the international materials science community.
The authors of the study are Arpita Das, Kangkana Saikia, and Samuel Lalthazuala Rokhum of Southern Assam’s Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Silchar, Chandrakanta Guchhait and Bimalendu Adhikari of NIT Rourkela in Odisha, Da Shi of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and Hu Li of the Guizhou University in China.
Superhydrophobic catalysts, imitating the anti-wetting or water-repulsing properties of natural surfaces such as lotus leaves, are deemed crucial for their ability to prevent the poisoning of active sites by water, produced in situ or as a by-product.
“Our novel superhydrophobic catalyst can be a game-changer in the field of biodiesel production. It stands out because of unmatched robustness; it can withstand the water by-product during biodiesel production,” Dr. Rokhum told The Hindu.
“This means the catalyst remains highly effective and can be reused multiple times, making the catalytic process more efficient and cost-effective,” he said.