Vatsala Sugumaran

Detailed characterization of bio-oil from pyrolysis of non-edible seed-cakes by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) techniques

Bio-oil obtained from pyrolysis is highly complicated mixture with valued chemicals. In order to reduce the complexity for unambiguous characterization of components present in bio-oil, solvent extractions using different solvents with increasing polarity have been adopted. The fractions have been analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for identifying the functional groups and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), for detailed characterization of components present in various fractions, thereby providing in-depth information at molecular level of various components in bio-oil. This paper reveals the potential of the analytical techniques in identification and brings out the similarities as well as differences in the components present in the bio-oil obtained from two non-edible oil seed-cakes, viz., Jatropha and Karanjia.

Characterization of Metal Phthalocyanine Catalysts Using Field Desorption Mass Spectrometry

Abstract Metal phthalocyanines are a very important class of compounds due to their ability to activate oxygen, which enables them to become useful chemical reagents and largely-accepted catalysts for many chemical reactions. Phthalocyanines containing metals like iron, cobalt, manganese and vanadium are useful catalysts in many refinery processes. In the petroleum industry mercaptans are oxidized to disulfides by aerobic oxidation in an alkaline medium in the presence of a metal phthalocyanine. A number of analytical techniques have been explored to characterize metal phthalocyanines. In this article, we have for the first time successfully used field desorption mass spectrometry (FDMS) techniques for the characterization simple metal phthalocyanines and substituted metal phthalocyanines. For this purpose metal phthalocyanines were prepared in the laboratory and the conditions were optimized for the characterization of metal phthalocyanines containing cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc by FDMS. This technique was also successfully applied to characterize sulfato, nitro, and chloro substituted phthalocyanines. This technique has been found to be a useful tool for the characterization of phthalocyanines.

Evaluation of Biodegradability of Potato Peel Powder Based Polyolefin Biocomposites

Solid waste accumulation due to synthetic polymer and polymer composites used in packaging is causing a major threat to human and wildlife. Biodegradation of plastics and biocomposites in environment is a viable solution to this problem and yet a complex phenomenon due to diversity and efficiency of microbial communities involved in attacking the various biocomposite materials. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the biodegradability of biocomposites prepared from potato-peel powder together with polypropylene (POPL/PP) or linear low density polyethylene (POPL/LLDPE) plus maleic anhydride grafted polyolefin compatibilizers. To achieve this, biodegradability tests were conducted according to ASTM D 5338 on the specimen samples for 45 days. The specimens were also analysed post-biodegradation using scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) and direct scanning calorimeter (DSC) techniques to study the changes in morphology and thermal properties. Biocomposites with 40% (w/w) POPL filler in PP without compatibilizer showed maximum degradation upto 10%, while the LLDPE composites showed biodegradation upto 1%. Addition of compatibilizers reduced the biodegradability in the composites. The results were well corroborated by percentage weight loss in the test biocomposite specimens. Biodegradation in the biocomposites was shown to be dependent on POPL content.