Published at : 04 Apr 2023
Volume : IJtech
Vol 14, No 2 (2023)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v14i2.5064
Afifah Nur Aisyah | Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami No.36A, Kentingan, Jebres-Surakarta, Central Java, 57126, Indonesia |
Dwi Ni’maturrohmah | 1. Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami No.36A, Kentingan, Jebres-Surakarta, Central Java, 57126, Indonesia, 2. Research Center |
Riandy Putra | 1. Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami No.36A, Kentingan, Jebres-Surakarta, Central Java, 57126, Indonesia, 2. Department of C |
Syaiful Ichsan | Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami No.36A, Kentingan, Jebres-Surakarta, Central Java, 57126, Indonesia |
Grandprix T M Kadja | 1. Division of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha No. 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia, 2. Center for Catalysis and R |
Witri Wahyu Lestari | Chemistry Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami No.36A, Kentingan, Jebres-Surakarta, Central Java, 57126, Indonesia |
In this study, a new
class of heterogeneous catalyst in
the form of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely Material of Institute
Lavoisier-96(Al), which is called MIL-96(Al), was employed for the production
of biodiesel and green diesel. The synthesis of MIL-96(Al) was conducted via
a hydrothermal method at 210 °C for 4 hours with dimethylformamide (DMF) as
an assisting agent. The Ni was loaded into MIL-96(Al) via incipient
wetness impregnation method with variations 3, 5, and 10 wt.% to form
Ni/MIL-96(Al). Based on X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the obtained material
has good crystallinity with characteristic peaks observed at 2? = 5.8°; 7.8°, and 9.1°.
Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis demonstrated an essential shift from
1715 cm-1 to 1666 cm-1, indicating the coordination of
the carboxylate group with Al3+ metal
ions. Moreover, MIL-96(Al) is stable up to 390 °C according to the
thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Based on structural and morphological
analysis (using XRD, FTIR, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)), the loading
of Ni into MIL-96(Al) does not change the basic structure of MIL-96(Al).
However, the pore diameter of MIL-96(Al) decreased from 5.7 nm to 1.4 nm after
the Ni was embedded in the structure. The largest surface area was obtained
from 10% Ni/MIL-96(Al) (up to 595.5 m2/g). The catalytic test
exhibits that 3% Ni/MIL-96(Al) could attain an optimum yield of up to 85.24% of
biodiesel, while in the case of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction, the optimum
catalyst shown by 10% Ni/MIL-96(Al) with conversion and selectivity of C16
up to 90.70% and 55.22%, respectively.
Biodiesel; Green Diesel; Hydrodeoxygenation; Ni/MIL-96(Al); Trans-esterification
The
highlighted impact of the population and industrial sector growth has been significantly
increased due to the global energy demand. Based on the United States Energy Information Administration (U.S. EIA)
International Energy Outlook 2017, the total energy requirement
is predicted to increase up to 28% from 2015 to 2040 (Capuano,
2020). Meanwhile, reserves and the production of
fossil fuels are threatened to be limited. Moreover, the use of fossil fuels as
the main energy source causes scarcity and air pollution. Therefore, changing
fossil-based energy to environmentally friendly renewable energy is necessary.
Biomass feedstocks (either lignocellulose or triglyceride) have been proposed
and widely studied as sustainable resources for generating of renewable fuels. Several
review articles have discussed comprehensive information on this matter (Hoang et
al., 2021a-c; Zhao et al., 2017).
One of the potential alternative energies to be developed in Indonesia is palm
oil-based biofuels, like biodiesel and green diesel.
Biodiesel can be produced through a trans-esterification
reaction, while green diesel (the 2nd generation of diesel) is manufactured through an HDO
reaction (Prihadiyono et al.,
2022; Muharam and Adinda, 2018; Putra et al., 2018; Susanto et al.,
2016). Hoang and Li (2019) thoroughly examined biodiesel as a fuel in diesel
engines, focusing on engine performance, deposit formation, combustion, and
emissions characteristics. In addition, biodiesel manufacturing employing
various processes and catalysts (e.g., heterogeneous catalysts) has also been
extensively described in multiple review articles (Cong et al., 2021; Hoang et al., 2021). Heterogeneous catalysts have been studied and significantly
impacted the reaction stage. In addition, heterogeneous catalysts are greener due to the ease
of handling and separation from the product and reusability. One relatively new class of
promising materials for the heterogeneous catalyst is Metal-Organic Frameworks
(MOF) (Yap, Fow, and Chen, 2017;
Xamena and Gascon, 2013).
MOFs are organic-inorganic hybrid
nanoporous materials consisting of metal cations or metal oxide clusters as nodes and
bidentate or poli-dentate ligands as organic
linkers to form infinite networks. MOFs combine the advantages of homogeneous
and heterogeneous catalysts due to their unique features such as nanoporosity,
thermal and chemical stability, insolubility in water and organic solvents, and
the presence of various catalytic active sites. The catalytic activity of MOFs
depends on their active site, which can be derived from unsaturated metal
centers, functionalized organic linkers, as well as additional metal sites
inserted via post-synthesis modification (Huang et al.,
2017). As a catalyst, MOFs should have a
stable porosity that can be accessed by the substrates.
Material of Institut Lavoisier-96(Al)
[MIL-96(Al)] represents the first synthesized MOFs using Al3+ metal
ions as nodes and trimesic acid [benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic] or H3BTC
as ligand by hydrothermal method resulting [Al12O(OH)18(H2O)3(Al2(OH)4)[BTC]6
4H2O (Loiseau et al.,
2006). MIL-96(Al) is stable up to 500 °C
and has a high BET surface area (ca. 687 m2/g) as well as an
average pore radius and total pore volume of 0.97 nm and 0.335 cc/g,
respectively (Abid et al.,
2016). The use of Al3+ as a trivalent metal
ion node causes higher thermal and chemical stability than divalent metal ions (Chughtai et al., 2015). MIL-96(Al) was first synthesized via
the hydrothermal method employed by Loiseau et al.
(2006) for 24 hours at 210 °C. Yang et al. (2016) innovated to use of assisting agents such as methanol,
ethanol, diethylformamide (DEF)
or dimethylformamide (DMF) in
the synthesis of MIL-100(Al) with a shorter time of only for 4 hours at 210 °C.
Moreover, the advantage of using DMF as an assisting agent is that it could
produce material with better crystallinity.
2.1. Materials
All
chemicals used in this research are in analytical grade and used as received
without further purification. Aluminum nitrate nonahydrate, Al(NO3)3·9H2O
(98%), and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (H3BTC) (95%) were
purchased from Sigma Aldrich, Germany. Nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate, Ni(NO3)2·6H2O
(98%), nitric acid (HNO3), N-N' dimethyl formamide (DMF, 99.8%),
ethanol (96%), and methanol (96%) were commercially obtained from Merck,
Germany. Crude Palm Oil (CPO) was obtained from PT. Salim Ivomas Pratama Tbk.,
nitrogen, and hydrogen gas (UHP, 99,9%) was supplied by PT. Samator Indonesia.
Other materials, such as pH paper, filter paper, acetone, and aquadest, were
obtained from Bratachem Indonesia.
2.2. Synthesis of MIL-96(Al)
The synthesis of MIL-96(Al) was performed via
a hydrothermal method based on modified and combined previous procedures
reported by Loiseau et al. (2006) and Yang et al.
(2016). Al(NO3)3·9H2O
(0.75 g, 2.40 mmol) and H3BTC (0.35 g, 1.67 mmol) were dissolved in
10 mL of aquadest. Subsequently, 0.2 mL DMF was added slowly then stirred for
10 minutes to form a homogeneous solution. HNO3 (4M) was added
dropwise to the solution until pH 1. The solution was then placed into Teflon
vessels covered with stainless-steel autoclaves and heated at 210°C for 4
hours. The final product was filtered and washed with ethanol to remove the
residual acid. The yellow precipitate was dried at room temperature and
activated at 200 °C for 2 hours.
2.3. Loading Ni into MIL-96(Al)
Loading of nickel into MIL-96(Al) was conducted through the incipient wetness impregnation method refers to previous procedures reported by Peng et al. (2012). Ni(NO3)2·6H2O metal salts as Ni source was loaded into MIL-96(Al) with variation 3, 5, and 10 wt.% of 2 g of MIL-96(Al). The mixture of Ni(NO3)2·6H2O and MIL-96(Al) was stirred in 10 mL of aquadest at room temperature for 24 hours, then filtered, dried and calcined, and reduced at 200 °C for 2 h under nitrogen and hydrogen atmosphere (with a 15 mL/min flow rate) (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Schematic illustration showing
the preparation of Ni/MIL-96(Al) catalyst
2.4. Materials Characterization
X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were carried out on a Rigaku Miniflex 600 Benchtop in
range of 5-50°. SEM type: inspect S50-FEI equipped with EDX
analysis was used to analyze the morphology of materials and its elemental
composition. FTIR spectroscopy type Shimadzu IR Prestige-21 in KBr pellets was
used to analyze the change in the functional group of the material and recorded
in the wavenumber range of 400-4000 cm-1. A Quadrasorp evo
(Quantachrome instruments) was used to measure nitrogen sorption isotherm at 77
K. Thermal stability of the materials was investigated using STA Linseis
PT-1600 from 30 until 700 °C under nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 20
°C/min.
2.5. Catalytic test of MIL-96(Al) and Ni/MIL-96(Al)
Figure 2 Experiment setup and apparatus of HDO reactor (Putra et al., 2018)
3.1. Materials Characterization
Figure 3 X-Ray Diffractogram of synthesized MIL-96(Al) compared to the simulated pattern (CCDC 622598) (left) and Ni/MIL-96(Al) in comparison with MIL-96(Al) and Ni standard (right)
Figure 4 FTIR spectra of MIL-96(Al) in comparison with H3BTC (left) and MIL-96(Al) compared to Ni/MIL-96(Al) (right)
Table 1 Textural properties of MIL-96(Al) and various Ni/MIL-96(Al)
Material | Surface Area (m2/g) | Pore size (nm) |
MIL-96(Al) | 52.93 | 5.70 |
3% Ni/MIL-96(Al) | 191.3 | 4.43 |
5% Ni/MIL-96(Al) | 432.3 | 1.84 |
10% Ni/MIL-96(Al) | 595.5 | 1.43 |
Figure 6 SEM images of (a) MIL-96(Al); (b) 3% Ni/MIL-96(Al); (c) 5% Ni/MIL-96(Al) and (d) 10% Ni/MIL-96(Al) with magnification 20kx
Table 2 Elemental Composition of MIL-96(Al) and Ni/MIL-96(Al) determined by EDX
Material | Elemental composition (wt.%) | |||
Ni | C | O | Al | |
MIL-96(Al) | - | 37.73 | 40.73 | 21.54 |
3% Ni/MIL-96(Al) | 1.09 | 41.06 | 40.18 | 17.68 |
5% Ni/MIL-96(Al) | 1.66 | 40.09 | 41.5 | 16.75 |
10% Ni/MIL-96(Al) | 6.55 | 38.85 | 33.72 | 20.89 |
Figure 7 TGA curve of MIL-96(Al) (left) and Ni/MIL-96(Al) in comparison with MIL-96(Al) (right)
3.2. Catalytic Test
Figure 8 The graph of the conversion result of CPO into biodiesel with MIL-96(Al) and Ni/MIL-96(Al) as catalyst and without catalyst
As an innovation, the HDO reaction of CPO has also been investigated over the prepared MIL-96(Al) and Ni embedded into MIL-96(Al) with different Ni contents at 200 °C under pressure 10 bar H2 for 2 hours. Figure 9 and Table 3 show the catalytic test results and liquid phase product distribution of HDO reaction over CPO using MIL-96(Al) and its variation with Ni metals as the catalyst. The observed main product is hydrocarbon diesel fraction generally consisting of a straight chain of n-paraffin (C10-C17), with low amounts of by-products such as light alkanes and kerosene which involve the oxygenates, alkenes and aromatics as the intermediates. Meanwhile, as reported previously, CO2, CO, CH4, and propane could also serve as gas products (Putra et al., 2022; Muharam and Sudarsono, 2020; Putra et al., 2018; Peng et al., 2012).
Figure 9 Catalytic test results of MIL-96(Al) and Ni/MIL-96(Al) in HDO reaction of CPO
Loading of 10 wt.% Ni achieved HDO product from CPO up to 50.09% of yield C16 alkane (Table 3). The production of C16 hydrocarbons with the selectivity 55.22% promoted hydrogenolysis of C–O by the interaction of Lewis acid from metallic Ni and oxygen atom (CPO) produced low oxygenated with H2O as a side product. In comparison to our previously published MOF-based catalysts by Lestari et al. (2021), palladium supported MIL-100(Fe) as a selective catalyst in the hydrogenation of citronellal showed a selectivity of 22.2% of citronellol products. Thus, in view of their remarkable designability, replacing palladium metals in heterogeneous hydrogenation catalysts with low-cost metals (e.g. nickel) for the creation of Ni–H bonds (nickel hydride bonds) has driven scientists as a desirable novel class of catalytic materials.
The presence of Ni catalyst promotes the adsorption of substrates (reactants) more effectively, thus facilitating the electron transfer from Ni’s d-orbital to bond the hydrogen’s orbital (Chen et al., 2018). Some unfilled energy levels in the d-orbital of nickel will form lone pair electrons and can form chemical bonding with the adsorbed substrates. Hydrogen molecules are then activated and broken down from “H–H” bonds to generate "Ni-H" through a spillover mechanism, generating highly reactive dissociative hydrogen species that are essential for catalytic hydrogenation reactions (Figure 10). Palmitic acid is the most important component of CPO in this study (40.77 wt.%). The presence of Ni predominantly speeds up the hydrodeoxygenation reaction in this research, which agrees with another group's study (Chen et al., 2018; Zuo et al., 2012). Direct C–O bonds scission with the release H2O as a by-product (direct HDO) is the suggested mechanism for carboxylic acid hydrogenation, which results in n-C16 alkanes (without carbon loss) (Figure 10). The C=O double bond is initially cleaved during direct HDO, leading to the production of alcohol. In addition, the C–O bond is hydrogenated, resulting in alkane formation. Nickel has been shown to be an active component in the C=O and C–O breakings in palmitic acid hydrodeoxygenation. Generally, the distribution of desirable hydrocarbon on the product relies on the reaction route and catalyst type.