Synthesis of spinel ferrite and its role in the removal of free fatty acids from deteriorated vegetable oil

摘要

Deterioration and loss of quality of vegetable oil is a big challenge in the food industry.This study investigated the synthesis of nickel ferrite(Ni Fe_(2)_(O4))via co-precipitation method and its use for the removal of free fatty acids(FFAs)in deteriorated vegetable oil.Ni Fe2 O4 was characterized using Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy(FTIR),X-ray diffraction(XRD),thermogravimetric(TG)analysis,Brunauer–Emm ett–Teller(BET)surface area,transmission electron microscopy(TEM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX).Synthesis of Ni Fe_(2)_(O4)was confirmed by characterization,which revealed a BET surface area of 16.30 m^(2)·g^(-1)and crystallite size of 29 nm.Ni Fe_(2)_(O4)exhibited an adsorption capacity of 145.20 L·kg^(-1)towards FFAs with an 80.69%removal in a process,which obeys Langmuir isotherm and can be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.The process has enthalpy(DH)of 11.251 k Jámolà1 and entropy(DS)of 0.038 k J·mol^(-1)K^(-1)with negative free energy change(DG),which suggests the process to be spontaneous and endothermic.The quantum chemical computation analysis via density functional theory further revealed the sorption mechanism of FFAs by Ni Fe_(2)_(O4)occurred via donor–acceptor interaction,which may be described by the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)and the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO).The study showed Ni Fe_(2)_(O4)to be a potential means that can remove FFAs from deteriorated vegetable oil.