Surface Engineering Effect on Optimizing Hydrogenation Timing of Green Hydrogenated Chitosan-Mediated CuO (H-Cht-CuO) for Cashew-kernel-oil Hydrogenation

The effect of polycrystallite surface engineering on the time required to fully hydrogenate green chitosan-mediated CuO to form hydrogenated chitosan-mediated CuO (H-Cht-CuO) as well as the catalytic properties of both CuO and H-Cht-CuO have been investigated. The prepared chitosan mediated CuO was obtained from the reaction of copper (II) sulphatepentahydrate with green alkali (aqueous extract of ripe plantain peel ash) via sol-gel technique (chitosan-gel mediated) and heated at 550°C for 6 h. The resultant sample was divided into two portions. The first was used as the control experiment (0 min) while the second was hydrogenated at varying times of 2 to 8 mins to form the H-Cht-CuO samples. A second CuO (control) without chitosan was also synthesized for structural and surface morphological comparisons with the chitosan-mediated using the XRD and SEM techniques, respectively. The XRD reflections showed differences in peak intensities with the chitosan-mediated having broader peaks while its SEM pores were 8.5 times larger than those of CuO (non chitosan-mediated). UV-Vis analysis of the samples showed that the 2 mins H-Cht-CuO sample had the maximum absorptivity while CuO (control-chitosan mediated) had the least. Both samples were used as catalysts in the hydrogenation of Cashew kernel oil. The GC-MS results showed that the Oleic acid component was reduced from 84.36% to 0.06% and 0%, Linoleic acid from 8.68% to 3.63% and 0% with increase in Stearic acid (saturated C18) from 4.88% to 34.97% and 84.76% by the CuO and H-Cht-CuO, respectively.