Laser-assisted neem oil pre-treatment: A novel pathway for high-efficiency biodiesel production
Sridevi V. Al-Asadi M. Al-Anssari S. Hamzah H.T. Kadhum A.H. Nikhil S. Abdullah T.A. Abdullah O.I.
January 2026Springer
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
2026#33Issue 3917 - 932 pp.
Biodiesel is popular as an eco-friendly fossil fuel alternative. Neem oil is manufactured from Azadirachta indica seeds. Transesterifying triglycerides with alcohol in the presence of a synthesized CaO nanocatalyst is the most common biodiesel synthesis procedure—recent advances, difficulties, and prospects in laser feedstock pretreatment to boost reactivity and reduce energy use. Oil pre-treatment with a 540-nm green laser is cost-effective and environmentally friendly. This study examined neem oil with and without laser pretreatment for biodiesel synthesis. CaO nanocatalysts were synthesised using Sol–gel and characterised using XRD and SEM. According to catalyst recyclability, the CaO nanocatalyst did not lose activity after five reuses. The CaO nanocatalyst retained 97.7% of its initial activity after five reuses, as confirmed by the small decrease in biodiesel synthesis from 97% to 94.8%. The study went through the optimization of batch-based biodiesel production named as Laser Neem Oil Methyl Ester’s (LNOME’s) at various process parameters such as reaction temperature (40–70 °C), reaction time (60–150 min), catalyst weight percentage (0.5–1.25 wt%), and methanol-to-oil molar ratio (10–25). Neem oil biodiesel performed best at 50 °C. After 90 min, both feedstocks achieve their maximum FAME conversion rate. The ideal conversion ratio for neem oil biodiesel to methanol was found to be 1:20. Because this process is reversible, the amount of biodiesel converted increases according to the amount of methanol utilized. The neem oil produced 97% Biodiesel when a laser was used, and 94% when it wasn’t. Laser processing and sol–gel nanocatalysts are also showcased in this novel work. Combining the efficiency of nanocatalytic processing with environmentally friendly processing methods, this method brings a double breakthrough to the field of reaction chemistry. Due to their reduced reaction time and better yield (97%). Furthermore, the characterization of both the feedstocks and the synthesized biodiesel was determined by using GC–MS, FTIR, and H-NMR. Laser pretreatment shows promising enhancement of conversion efficiency and reduced reaction time, potentially leading to higher-quality biodiesel.
Bio-oil , CaO nanocatalyst , Laser pretreatment , Sustainable fuel , Transesterification
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Department of Chemical Engineering, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Misan, Misan, Iraq
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Al-Naji University, Baghdad, Iraq
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
University of Al-Ameed, Karbala, Iraq
College of Applied Sciences, University of Technology, Baghdad, 19006, Iraq
Energy Department, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, 24047, Iraq
College of Engineering, Al-Naji University, Baghdad, Iraq
Department of Mechanics, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of Fuel and Energy, Technical Engineering College, AL-Ma’moon University, Baghdad, Iraq
Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Chemistry
Department of Petroleum Engineering
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Al-Ameed
College of Applied Sciences
Energy Department
College of Engineering
Department of Mechanics
Department of Fuel and Energy
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