Influence of Crystallite Size of Nickel and Cobalt Ferrites on the Catalytic Pyrolysis of Buckwheat Straw by Using TGA-FTIR Method

Pyrolysis of buckwheat straw with or without catalysts was investigated using the TGA-FTIR method to determine the influence of nickel and cobalt ferrites on the distribution of pyrolysis products. According to the obtained results, the overall shape of the thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric curves is unchanged in the presence of nickel and cobalt ferrites but different weight losses were observed. All catalysts contribute to the formation of solid residue from BWS pyrolysis. The presence of cobalt ferrites exhibited the highest bio-oil yields, whereas the highest non-condensable gas yield and the lowest bio-oil yield was obtained with the addition of NiFe2O4 (1) catalyst. According to the obtained results, the ability of nickel and cobalt ferrites to catalyze deoxygenation reactions depends on the crystallite size. The nickel or cobalt ferrites with smaller crystallite size (15-22 nm) show a higher ability to catalyzed dehydration reaction than catalysts with larger crystallite size (45-54 nm).