Are Diatoms “Green” Aluminosilicate Synthesis Microreactors for Future Catalyst Production?

Are Diatoms "Green" Aluminosilicate Synthesis Microreactors for Future Catalyst Production?

Diatom biosilica may offer an interesting perspective in the search for sustainable solutions meeting the high demand for heterogeneous catalysts. Diatomaceous earth (diatomite), i.e., fossilized diatoms, is already used as adsorbent and carrier material. While diatomite is abundant and inexpensive, freshly harvested and cleaned diatom cell walls have other advantages, with respect to purity an...

Montmorillonite: An efficient, heterogeneous and green catalyst for organic synthesis

Reactions of organic molecules on Montmorillonite clay mineral have been investigated from various aspects. These include catalytic reactions for organic synthesis, chemical evolution, the mechanism of humus-formation, and environmental problems. Catalysis by clay minerals has attracted much interest recently, and many reports including the catalysis by synthetic or modified clays have been pub...

Microreactors - Portable Factories for Biodiesel Fuel Production

Nowadays, when fossil fuel recourses are decreasing rapidly, biodiesel fuels are becoming more and more interesting. Being environmentally beneficial, biodegradable, non-toxic and with low pollution emission makes biodiesel interesting for consumption. Various methods have been reported for biodiesel production such as microemulsification, pyrolysis and transesterification. Main problems of thi...

Nanoparticle Synthesis in Vesicle Microreactors

Ultrasound-Assisted Biodiesel Production in microreactors

The ultrasound-assisted (UA) soybean oil methanolysis using KOH as a catalyst was studied at different reaction conditions in a microreactor. Box–Behnken experimental design, with three variables, was performed and the effects of three reaction variables i.e. reaction temperature, catalyst concentration and the methanol-to-oil molar ratio on fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield were evaluated b...