Electrochemical Characterization of Biodiesel from Sunflower Oil Produced by Homogeneous Catalysis and Ultrasound

Abstract

Biofuel production has increased significantly in several countries in recent decades. Different evaluation techniques are required for their characterization. The study measures the properties of the obtained biodiesel and a commercial diesel sample, using the techniques of open circuit potential, linear scanning voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The transesterification reaction between sunflower oil and methanol was carried out with ultrasound as the energy source. The determination of triglyceride conversion to biodiesel is performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), obtaining up to 99.79% with a yield of 93.40% at a transesterification temperature of 50 ∘C for 60 min with a methanol/oil molar ratio of 6:1. The potassium hydroxide catalyst concentration was 1.0 g catalyst/100 g oil. The biodiesel samples generally showed open circuit potential (OCP) values less than 790 mV and stabilization time less than 120 s, Linear sweep voltammograms (LSV) show no reaction peaks with current densities on the order of NanoAmpere, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed a capacitive system with impedances on the order of MΩ cm2 at low frequency; This information could help characterize biofuels and other similar materials.