Browsing by Author "Alves, Marta M"
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- Green synthesis of zinc oxide particles with apple-derived compounds and their application as catalysts in the transesterification of methyl benzoatesPublication . Soliman, Mohamed Mostafa Aboelhassan; Alegria, Elisabete; Da Costa Ribeiro, Ana Paula; Alves, Marta M; Saraiva, Marta S.; Montemor, M.F.; Pombeiro, ArmandoZnO nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were successfully synthesized using bravo-de-esmolfe apple extract in aqueous medium at room temperature. ZnO microparticles, prepared with a pure apple phytochemical, quercetin (ZnOq), or without phytochemicals (ZnO) were studied for comparative purposes. The re-use of apple waste for highly efficient catalyst production, based on green synthetic routes, can be added to the concept of a circular economy. The synthesized ZnO particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and N-2 adsorption/desorption Brunauer- Emmett-Teller (BET) theory. The XRD patterns indicated the formation of a hexagonal wurtzite phase with high purity and SEM and TEM analyses revealed the morphology of the particles. The apple extract produced spherical ZnONPs composed of round lamina-like structures, similar to the micro sized lamina-like shape of ZnOq and dissimilar to the flower-like shape of ZnO. The green synthesized ZnO nanoparticles (ZnONPs) led to a high product yield of ca. 96% within 24 h of reaction time in the transesterification reaction of different carboxylic esters.