THERMAL STABILITY

This study focused on the green synthesis of copper chloride (CuCl2) nanoparticles using onion peel extract as an eco-friendly reducing and stabilizing agent, and evaluated their efficacy in the photocatalytic degradation of crude oil in contaminated wastewater. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS),X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier- Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. DLS confirmed the formation of nanoparticles with a primary size of 16.25 nm, XRD determined the crystalline phase of the nanoparticles, TGA measured the thermal stability and decomposition temperature, SEM visualized the particle size, shape, surface texture while FTIR analysis identified functional groups from the onion peel extract, verifying its role in capping and stabilizing the particles. The photocatalytic activity of the nanoparticles was assessed by studying the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) under sunlight, investigating the effects of catalyst dose, pH, temperature, and initial pollutant concentration. Results demonstrated that the green-synthesized CuCl2 nanoparticles were effective in degrading crude oil components, with optimal performance observed under specific conditions. This indicates that onion peel-mediated CuCl2 nanoparticles present a sustainable, cost-effective, and promising photocatalyst for remediating crude oil-contaminated water, offering a potential solution for environmental cleanup, particularly in oil producing regions like the Niger Delta.

This work entails extraction, characterization and thermal stability studies with tigernut (Cyperus esculentus) oil. The Tigernut used in this work was obtained from an open market in Benin city. Oil extraction was carried out by soxhlet extraction using n-hexane as a solvent. Parameters studied were free fatty acid (FFA) content giving 0.48% as result, peroxide value (PV) with results of 1.96meq/kg and 7.80meq/kg for the raw oil and treated oil respectively, refractive index (RI) test- 69% and 69.5% brix for both raw and treated oil respectively and measurement of absorbance of the raw and treated oil at 234nm and 270nm. Additionally, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to identify the functional groups present in the oil. Findings indicate that the oil is thermally stable when treated with heat. Due to the highly nutritional properties of this oil, it has found wide usefulness in culinary arts, pharmaceutical products and even cosmetics