Mohammad Nasikin

Deacidification of palm oil using betaine monohydrate-based natural deep eutectic solvents

In the palm oil industry, the deacidification process is performed by steam stripping which causes the loss of most of palm oils natural antioxidants due to high temperature. The liquid-liquid extraction process which is carried out at low temperature is preferable in order to preserve these compounds. The use of hydrated ethanol can reduce the losses of antioxidants, but the ability of this solvent to extract free fatty acids also decreases. Betaine monohydrate-based natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) have extensive potential for this process. The selectivity of these NADES was determined to select a preferable solvent. The betaine monohydrate-glycerol NADES in a molar ratio of 1:8 was determined to be the preferred solvent with the highest selectivity. This solvent has an efficiency of palmitic acid extraction of 34.14%, and the amount of antioxidants can be preserved in the refined palm oil up to 99%. The compounds are stable during extraction.

The optimization of pyrogallol and methyl linoleate coupling reaction

Biodiesel is a promising renewable fuel which has a major weakness due to its instability against oxidative degradation. Its unsaturated fatty acid content is responsible for this drawback. Most of the biodiesel oxidation takes place during fuel blending and storage. This oxidation reaction may decrease the quality of biodiesel as a fuel, while the oxidation product could potentially harm the engine and decreases its performance. The oxidative degradation could be prevented by the addition of a phenolic antioxidant such as pyrogallol. Unfortunately, the solubility of phenolic compounds in biodiesel is relatively low. Several studies claimed that the solubility of phenolic and phenolic derivative compounds could be improved by the addition of alkyl group to its benzene ring. In the previous research, the addition of methyl linoleate to the benzene ring of pyrogallol using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) has been done to improve its solubility. The product was successfully synthesized; however, the yield was at a low concentration. In this research, the reaction condition was optimized by varying the mole ratio of pyrogallol to methyl linoleate and the amount of DPPH to produce a higher concentration of the new product. The result showed that the optimum mole ratio of pyrogallol to methyl linoleate is 1:200. The increase in DPPH amount increases the concentration of the product.Biodiesel is a promising renewable fuel which has a major weakness due to its instability against oxidative degradation. Its unsaturated fatty acid content is responsible for this drawback. Most of the biodiesel oxidation takes place during fuel blending and storage. This oxidation reaction may decrease the quality of biodiesel as a fuel, while the oxidation product could potentially harm the engine and decreases its performance. The oxidative degradation could be prevented by the addition of a phenolic antioxidant such as pyrogallol. Unfortunately, the solubility of phenolic compounds in biodiesel is relatively low. Several studies claimed that the solubility of phenolic and phenolic derivative compounds could be improved by the addition of alkyl group to its benzene ring. In the previous research, the addition of methyl linoleate to the benzene ring of pyrogallol using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) has been done to improve its solubility. The product was successfully synthesized; however, the yie...