Carbonaceous catalysts from orange pulp for limonene oxidation

The possibility of orange pulp utilization for nanoporous carbons production was investigated. Moreover, processing the obtained materials as limonene oxidation catalysts was studied as well. Limonene was separated from orange pulp obtained from fragmented orange peels—the waste from industrial fruits processing—by means of simple distillation. After the sepa-ration of limonene from the biomass, the dried orange pulp was converted to three types of nanoporous carbon catalysts: without activating agent, with NaOH, and with KOH. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, AFM, and sorption of N2 methods. The activities of the obtained catalysts were tested in the oxidation of limonene to perillyl alcohol (the main product), carveol, carvone, and 1,2-epoxylimonene and its diol. In the oxidation processes, hydrogen peroxide was used as the oxidizing agent. This work has shown for the first time that nanoporous carbons obtained from orange pulp waste, after separation of limonene, are active catalysts for limonene oxidation to industrially important value-added productsPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Reduced graphene oxide and inorganic nanoparticles composites – synthesis and characterization

Graphene – novel 2D material, which possesses variety of fascinating properties, can be considered as a convenient support material for the nanoparticles. In this work various methods of synthesis of reduced graphene oxide with metal or metal oxide nanoparticles will be presented. The hydrothermal approach for deposition of platinum, palladium and zirconium dioxide nanoparticles in ethylene glycol/water solution was applied. Here, platinum/reduced graphene oxide (Pt/RGO), palladium/reduced graphene oxide (Pd/RGO) and zirconium dioxide/reduced graphene oxide (ZrO2/RGO) nanocomposites were prepared. Additionally, manganese dioxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (MnO2/RGO) was synthesized in an oleic-water interface. The obtained nanocomposites were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results shows that GO can be successfully used as a template for direct synthesis of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles on its surface with a homogenous distribution

Carbonaceous catalysts from orange pulp for limonene oxidation

The possibility of orange pulp utilization for nanoporous carbons production was investigated. Moreover, processing the obtained materials as limonene oxidation catalysts was studied as well. Limonene was separated from orange pulp obtained from fragmented orange peels—the waste from industrial fruits processing—by means of simple distillation. After the sepa-ration of limonene from the biomass, the dried orange pulp was converted to three types of nanoporous carbon catalysts: without activating agent, with NaOH, and with KOH. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, AFM, and sorption of N2 methods. The activities of the obtained catalysts were tested in the oxidation of limonene to perillyl alcohol (the main product), carveol, carvone, and 1,2-epoxylimonene and its diol. In the oxidation processes, hydrogen peroxide was used as the oxidizing agent. This work has shown for the first time that nanoporous carbons obtained from orange pulp waste, after separation of limonene, are active catalysts for limonene oxidation to industrially important value-added productsPeer Reviewe