Production and Characterization of Acid-Base Biofunctional Catalyst from Desert Date (Balanite aegyptiaca) Seed Shells (DDSS) for Biodiesel Production

Abstract The Nigeria rapid expanding population, security concerns, high cost of fuel, oil theft, pollution caused by fossil fuels and uneven distribution of petroleum among the states has contributed to Nigeria increasing demand for energy. Balanites aegyptiaca (desert date) seed shells was used as substrate for the production of acid-base biofunctional catalyst and characterized through energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), scanning electron microscope (SEM) Brunauer-emmett-teller (BET) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) respectively. The EDXRF elemental composition of both biochar and the produced acid-base biofunctional catalyst revealed the presence of , Ca, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br, Pb and Sr at different concentration while metallic oxides or oxide of metals showed the presence of FeO3, CuO, Ni2O, Al2O3, ZnO, Na2O, MgO, SO3, P2O5, CaO, K2O, MnO, Rb2O, and SrO at different concentrations. SEM morphology was conducted at magnification range of 500X and 1000X. The desert date (Balanites aegyptiaca) biochar DDSS-B showed higher level of porosity, overlapping surface and pores with spongy like structure while the produced acid–base biofunctional catalyst (DDSSAC/KOH/H2SO4) showed pores created during calcination filled with the active sites during the impregnation process, resulting in the changed of shape and particle sizes. BET analysis showed an increased in specific surface area, pore volume and pore size from DDSSB to DDSSAC/KOH/H2SO4. The functional groups attached to the surface of the DDSS was examined by FTIR at transmission spectra of 4000 – 650Cm3 showing –OH, C–H, C=O, C=C, C–O, S−O and P=O at different wave number among the samples. Based on the results desert date seed shells (DDSS) will be a promising feed stock for catalyst synthesis. Keywords: Biodiesel, Biofunctional Catalyst, Desert Date, Transesterification