Sustainable and Green Production of Biodiesel from Calotropis procera Seed Oil Using CuO Nanocatalyst

In the current study, the biodiesel form non-edible seed oil of Calotropis procera has been synthesized. Biodiesel is a renewable and cost effective alternate of fossil fuel commonly used. For transesterification of oil we have used Copper oxide nanoparticles as catalyst. CuO nanoparticles were created using the latex of Calotropis procera. The vernacular name of this plant is giant milkweed. This a shrub that grow in the spring season every year, having spiritual as well as medical uses, cannot be eaten. The CuO nanoparticle production was successfully verified by UV-visible spectroscopy, with noticeable peak obtained on 271 nm. Synthesised CuO nanoparticles showed a variety of functional groups, including O-H stretching vibrations, -NH₂ bending vibrations, and Cu-O stretching vibrations, according to FTIR analyses. CuO nanoparticles were shown to be spherical in form by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) pictures, with average diameters of 46.87 nm, 35.41 nm, and 25.46 nm corresponding to Cu(a), Cu(b), and Cu(c) samples. TEM supported dispersion of CuO nanoparticles. The study also examined the spectral analysis using FTIR of Calotropis procera seed’s oil and found discrete absorption bands that corresponded to various oil constituents, such as alcoholic groups, methylene groups, alkene groups, and aromatic groups. For ascertaining the quality of Calotropis procera oil, synthesized biodiesel and different fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) present, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used. Outcomes demonstrate that biodiesel generated using CuO nanoparticles as a catalyst complied with numerous ASTM and other international criteria for fuel characteristics. The study also analysed the catalyst’s potential for reuse.