Phytochemically stabilized magnesium oxide nanoparticles for production of bio-fuel and catalysis of methylene blue dye

Abstract In this study, magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO-NPs) were synthesized through a novel biogenic synthetic route using an extract of Oxalis corniculata leaves. The catalytic application of MgO-NPs in the reduction of MB dye and the pyrolysis of corncob was also evaluated. The MgO-NPs exhibited excellent performance in degrading the Methylene Blue (MB) dye. The reduction of the MB dye followed pseudo-1st-order reaction kinetics. The average activation energies obtained from Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose, Ozawa Flynn Wall or Friedman models were calculated in the presence of MgO NPs (167.86 kJ/mol, 160.25 kJ/mol or 162.96 kJ/mol) and in the absence of catalyst (166.23 kJ/mol, 177.34 kJ/mol and 167.77 kJ/mol), respectively. The results indicated that the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose model is the most suitable method for catalytic pyrolysis of corn cobs. The mean values of enthalpy (ΔH), entropy (ΔS), and Gibbs free energy (ΔG) for corn cob with MgO-NPs were calculated to be 155.06 kJ/mol, 200.04 kJ/mol and-82.05 kJ/mol, respectively. These results also indicate that the bio-oil yield significantly increases and has a low activation energy in the presence of MgO-NPs.