Sustainable and Eco-friendly Synthesis of Biodiesel from Novel and Non-edible seed oil of Monotheca buxifolia using Green Nano-catalyst of Calcium oxide

Abstract Biodiesel have achieved the status of sustainable and alternative energy source for transportation in many countries. Large scale production of biodiesel could lead to positive outcomes in terms of environmental quality by reducing greenhouse gasses emission and Societal-Economic development. Hence, our current research work focused on biodiesel synthesis from novel, non-edible seed oil of Monotheca buxifolia using green nano-particles of calcium oxide synthesized with aqueous leaves extract of Boerhavia procumbens via single step transesterification. Green nano-particles of calcium oxide were characterized by advanced techniques like X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy diffraction X-Ray (EDX) and Thermo gravitational analysis (TGA). High yield of 95% of biodiesel was obtained at optimum reaction conditions such as methanol to oil molar ratio of 9:1, catalyst loading of 0.83 (wt.%), reaction time of 180 min and temperature of 85 oC. Gas Chromatography/Mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis of biodiesel revealed four distinct peaks of methyl esters. Results of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) confirmed the formation of biodiesel. Fuel properties of biodiesel such as density (0.821 kg/m3), viscosity (5.35 mm2/s), cloud point (-8 ◦C), pour point (-9 ◦C) and flash point (95 ◦C) were found equivalent to international standards of fuels like ASTM D-6571, EN 14214 and China GB/T 20828-2007. It was concluded that Monotheca buxifolia is a highly potential and cheaper biomass feedstock for sustainable production of biodiesel which could have positive environmental and socioeconomic impacts at various levels.