Evaluation of Carica Papaya Seed Activated Carbon as Basic Catalyst Support: Extent and Base Concentration

Abstract

Carica Papaya or Papaya seed is one of the abundant agricultural residues that contain carbon atoms. This study evaluated the role of activated carbon as essential catalyst support. Papaya seeds were dried, crushed, and activated using sulfuric acid. After being chemically activated, carbon was physically activated through heating. At 110 ºC. The synthesized activated carbon was then impregnated with NaOH for contact time variation (180, 240, 300, and 360 minutes) with varying alkaline concentrations (30, 40, 50, and 60%). The synthesized supported catalyst on activated carbon was morphologically characterized through SEM. Additionally, the structure and elemental composition of the supported catalyst were analyzed with EDX. It was found that morphologically, concentration enhanced NaOH dispersion onto activated carbon in positive means with a 20% NaOH concentration increase by 0.6%. On the other hand, impregnation time displayed a maximum point, after which the impregnation process did not proceed significantly from 240 to 360 minutes by 1.25%. Moreover, impregnated activated carbon also presented an identical trend, with Sodium and Oxygen substances being impregnated in the same manner for both impregnation parameter variations. On top of that, the structure analysis through XRD depicted the potential heterogeneous solid catalytic performance of NaOH supported with activated carbon from papaya seed. The findings showed that activated carbon from Papaya seed with NaOH impregnation has the potential for Biodiesel production as a heterogeneous catalyst.