Assembly of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe <sub>3</sub> O <sub>4</sub> -Nps) for catalytic pyrolysis of corn cob biomass
Muhammad Imran Din, Sadia Sadaf, Zaib Hussain, Rida Khalid
Abstract
In the present work, the slow pyrolysis has been executed in a tubular shaped fixed bed reactor using corn cob as biomass and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) as a catalyst. Fe3O4-NPs were fabricated by a facile novel biosynthetic route through a reduction of Fe (NO3)3.9H2O with corn cob which acts as an excellent capping agent. The maximum yield of about 55.9% bio-oil was achieved at 450OC in the presence of 2 g catalyst. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra of Fe3O4–NPs, corn cob and biochar were scanned to explore the functionalities. The effects on product yields were studied under different settings of pyrolysis temperature and catalyst amount. Superparamagnetic Fe3O4-NPs manufactured by green method demonstrated high yield of bio-oil in a short time during pyrolysis and maximum percentage conversions of the pyrolytic products were achieved at 0.46–0.56 mm particle size. Corn cob residues used in pyrolysis is an alternative source of renewable energy sources and chemicals.