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The safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) oil was extracted from the seeds of the safflower that grows in Diyarbakir, SE Anatolia of Turkey. Carthamus tinctorius L. seed oil was investigated as an alternative feedstock for the production of a biodiesel fuel. By traditional solvent extraction, oil was obtained and biodiesel was prepared from safflower by transesterification of the crude oil. A maximum conversion of 93% (oil to ester) was achieved using 100% excess methanol, i.e., molar ratio of methanol to oil is 6:1 and catalyst (NaOH) concentration of 0.5% at 65°C. The viscosity of biodiesel oil is nearer to that of petroleum diesel and the calorific value is about 5.5% less than that of diesel. The quality of biodiesel is most important for engine parts and various standards have been specified to check the quality. The important properties of safflower oil and its methyl ester (biodiesel), such as density, kinematic viscosity, flash point, iodine number, neutralization number, pour point, cloud point, and cetane number, are found out and compared to those of No. 2 petroleum diesel. Fuel properties of methyl esters of Carthamus tinctorius L. oil compare well with ASTM and EN biodiesel standards. The present experimental results support that methyl ester of safflower seed oil can be successfully used as diesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducible WO 3 powder with a mean diameter of 100 nm is used as support to stabilize ruthenium(0) nanoparticles. Ruthenium(0) nanoparticles are obtained by NaBH 4 reduction of ruthenium(III) precursor on the surface of WO 3 support at room temperature. Ruthenium(0) nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed on the surface of tungsten(VI) oxide. The obtained Ru 0 /WO 3 nanoparticles are found to be active catalysts in hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. The turnover frequency (TOF) values of the Ru 0 /WO 3 nanocatalysts with the metal loading of 1.0%, 2.0%, and 3.0% wt. Ru are 122, 106, and 83 min -1 , respectively, in releasing hydrogen gas from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane at 25.0 °C. As the Ru 0 /WO 3 (1.0% wt. Ru) nanocatalyst with an average particle size of 2.6 nm provides the highest activity among them, it is extensively investigated. Although the Ru 0 /WO 3 (1.0% wt. Ru) nanocatalyst is not magnetically separable, it has extremely high reusability in the hydrolysis reaction as it preserves 100% of initial catalytic activity even after the 5th run of hydrolysis. The high activity and reusability of Ru 0 /WO 3 (1.0% wt. Ru) nanocatalyst are attributed to the favorable metal-support interaction between the ruthenium(0) nanoparticles and the reducible tungsten(VI) oxide. The high catalytic activity and high stability of Ru 0 /WO 3 nanoparticles increase the catalytic efficiency of precious ruthenium in hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane., (© TÜBİTAK.)

Magnetically separable catalysts attract considerable attention in catalysis due to their facile separation from the reaction medium. This propensity is crucial for efficient multiple use of precious noble metal nanoparticles in catalysis. In fact, the isolation of catalysts from the reaction medium by filtration and washing results usually in the loss of huge amount of activity in the subsequent run of catalysis. Although many transition metal nanoparticle catalysts have been reported for the H 2 generation from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane, there is no study reporting the magnetically separable rhodium based catalysts for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. Here, we report the preparation of rhodium(0) nanoparticles supported on the surface of Fe 3 O 4 and CoFe 2 O 4 magnetic nanopowders as the first example of magnetically separable rhodium nanocatalysts. The resulting magnetically separable Rh 0 /Fe 3 O 4 and Rh 0 /CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles are highly active, long-lived and reusable catalysts in H 2 generation from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane providing a turnover frequency value of 273 and 720  min -1 , respectively, at 25.0 ± 0.1 °C. These magnetically separable catalysts show high reusability and long-term stability in the hydrolysis reaction. They retain their complete initial activity even after the 5th use releasing exactly 3.0 equivalent H 2 gas per mole of ammonia borane. The long-term stability tests show that Rh 0 /Fe 3 O 4 and Rh 0 /CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles provide a total turnover number of 125,000 and 245,000, respectively, in releasing H 2 from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane at room temperature. The long term stability and reusability of magnetically separable Rh 0 /Fe 3 O 4 and Rh 0 /CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles make them attractive catalysts for hydrogen generation in fuel cell applications., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Nanozirconia supported ruthenium(0) nanoparticles (Ru 0 /ZrO 2 ) were prepared by impregnation of ruthenium(III) cations on the surface of zirconia followed by their reduction with sodium borohydride at room temperature. Ru 0 /ZrO 2 was isolated from the reaction solution by centrifugation and characterized by ICP-OES, XRD, TEM, SEM-EDS and XPS techniques. All the results reveal that ruthenium(0) nanoparticles were successfully supported on zirconia and the resulting Ru 0 /ZrO 2 is a highly active and reusable catalyst for hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane with a turnover frequency value of 173 min -1 at 25 °C. The reusability and catalytic lifetime tests reveal that Ru 0 /ZrO 2 is still active in the subsequent runs of hydrolysis of ammonia borane preserving 67% of the initial catalytic activity even after the fifth run and Ru 0 /ZrO 2 provides 72,500 turnovers (mol H 2 /mol Ru) before deactivation at 25 °C. Our report also includes the results of kinetic studies depending on the catalyst concentration and temperature to determine the activation energy (E a  = 58 ± 2 kJ/mol) for hydrolytic dehydrogenation of AB., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ruthenium(0) nanoparticles supported on ceria (Ru(0)/CeO2) were in situ generated from the reduction of ruthenium(iii) ions impregnated on ceria during the hydrolysis of ammonia borane. Ru(0)/CeO2 was isolated from the reaction solution by centrifugation and characterized by ICP-OES, BET, XRD, TEM, SEM-EDS and XPS techniques. All the results reveal that ruthenium(0) nanoparticles were successfully supported on ceria and the resulting Ru(0)/CeO2 is a highly active, reusable and long-lived catalyst for hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane with a turnover frequency value of 361 min(-1). The reusability tests reveal that Ru(0)/CeO2 is still active in the subsequent runs of hydrolysis of ammonia borane preserving 60% of the initial catalytic activity even after the fifth run. Ru(0)/CeO2 provides a superior catalytic lifetime (TTO = 135 100) in hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane at 25.0 ± 0.1 °C before deactivation. The work reported here includes the formation kinetics of ruthenium(0) nanoparticles. The rate constants for the slow nucleation and autocatalytic surface growth of ruthenium(0) nanoparticles were obtained using hydrogen evolution as a reporter reaction. An evaluation of rate constants at various temperatures enabled the estimation of activation energies for both the reactions, Ea = 60 ± 7 kJ mol(-1) for the nucleation and Ea = 47 ± 2 kJ mol(-1) for the autocatalytic surface growth of ruthenium(0) nanoparticles, as well as the activation energy of Ea = 51 ± 2 kJ mol(-1) for the catalytic hydrolysis of ammonia borane.

The preparation of ruthenium(0) nanoclusters supported on hydroxyapatite and their characterization by a combination of complementary techniques are described. The resultant ruthenium(0) nanoclusters provide high activity and reusability in the complete hydrogenation of aromatics under mild conditions (at 25 degrees C and with 42 psi initial H(2) pressure).

The hydrogenation of aromatics is a ubiquitous chemical transformation used in both the petrochemical and specialty industry and is important for the generation of clean diesel fuels. Reported herein is the discovery of a superior heterogeneous catalyst, superior in terms of catalytic activity, selectivity, and lifetime in the hydrogenation of aromatics in the solvent-free system under mild conditions (at 25 degrees C and 42 +/- 1 psig initial H(2) pressure). Ruthenium(0) nanoclusters stabilized by a nanozeolite framework as a new catalytic material is reproducibly prepared from the borohydride reduction of a colloidal solution of ruthenium(III)-exchanged nanozeolites at room temperature and characterized by using ICP-OES, XRD, XPS, DLS, TEM, HRTEM, TEM/EDX, mid-IR, far-IR, and Raman spectroscopy. The resultant ruthenium(0) nanoclusters hydrogenate neat benzene to cyclohexane with 100% conversion under mild conditions (at 25 degrees C and 42 +/- 1 psig initial H(2) pressure) with record catalytic activity (initial TOF = 5430 h(-1)) and lifetime (TTO = 177 200). They provide exceptional catalytic activity not only in the hydrogenation of neat benzene but also in the solvent-free hydrogenation of methyl substituted aromatics such as toluene, o-xylene, and mesitylene under otherwise identical conditions. Moreover, they are an isolable, bottleable, and reusable catalyst in the hydrogenation of neat aromatics. When the isolated ruthenium(0) nanoclusters are reused, they retain 92% of their initial catalytic activity even for the third run in the hydrogenation of neat benzene under the same conditions as those of the first run. The work reported here also includes (i) far-infrared spectroscopic investigation of nanozeolite, ruthenium(III)-exchanged-nanozeolite, and ruthenium(0) nanoclusters stabilized by a nanozeolite framework, indicating that the host framework remains intact after the formation of a nanozeolite framework stabilized ruthenium(0) nanoclusters; (ii) the poisoning experiments performed by using tricyclohexylphosphine (P(C(6)H(11))(3)) and 4-ethyl-2,6,7-trioxa-1-phosphabicyclo[2.2.2]octane PC(6)H(11)O(3) to examine whether the ruthenium(0) nanoclusters are encapsulated in the cages or supported on the external surface of nanozeolite; (iii) a summary section detailing the main findings for the "green chemistry"; and (iv) a review of the extensive literature of benzene hydrogenation, which is also tabulated as part of the Supporting Information .