Lamya al -haj

Sultan Qaboos University | SQU · Department of Biology

Prunus Armeniaca seed (PAS) oil was utilised as a waste biomass feedstock for biodiesel production via a novel catalytic system (SrO–La2O3) based on different stoichiometric ratios. The catalysts have been characterised and followed by a parametric analysis to optimise catalyst results. The catalyst with a stoichiometric ratio of Sr: La-8 (Sr–La–C)...

Rising demand for energy resources alongside climate emergency concerns has attracted the urgent attention of researchers towards the preparation and utilization of biofuels. This review will investigate the different generations of biofuels and more particularly, the developmental and production processes for creating liquid biofuels. Initially, t...

Herein, we utilised Loquat seed oil as a waste resource to produce biodiesel over a novel bifunctional catalyst system based on CaO loaded on a ceria oxide support. The catalysts were characterised using XRD, SEM-EDX, SBET STEM, and TPD analyses, followed by parametric analysis to optimise the catalyst performance. The XPS analysis showed a strong...

Recently, the glycolipids biosurfactant materials have widely been utilized formany industrial applications due to their feasible surface activity, biodegrad-able as well as eco-friendly nature. Even though many of the earlier studieshave been reported on such kind of surfactants, in this study we focused onporous rocks-like Fe2O3/C composites, whi...

Due to their rapid growth rates, high lipid productivity, and ability to synthesize value-added products, microalgae are considered as the potential biofuel feedstocks. However, among the several bottlenecks that are hindering the commercialization of microalgal biofuel synthesis, the issue of high water consumption is the least explored. This anal...

Herein, we utilized waste triglycerides “cooking oil” as an abundant source for biodiesel (methyl esters) production via transesterification over a novel synthesized heterogeneous catalyst (Zn-MgO-ZrO2). The catalyst was prepared by the co-precipitation technique and analyzed by using X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope, temperature des...

We demonstrate a simple template‐free green method to prepare copper oxide (CuO) nanoporous material using copper acetate as a single precursor with Piper nigrum (Indian black pepper) dried fruit extract as a reducing medium under microwave irradiation. The surface properties and morphology of the obtained CuO material were assessed using powder X‐...

The current research work reports the synthesis of highly efficient heterogeneous barium oxide with molybdenum oxide (BaO‐MoO2) catalysts for transesterification of Balanites aegyptiaca seed oil for biodiesel production. The synthesized catalysts are being characterized through several analytical techniques such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning...

This study reports the synthesis of dual-functional heterogeneous catalyst for valorizing the plant-based oils to produce biodiesel as a cleaner fuel to conserve the environment and meet the current energy demand. Pristine carbon as a support for the catalyst is produced from waste date seeds powder before oil extraction and modified with alkaline...

Current biofuels for diesel engines are largely derived from food crops and there is significant concern, recognised by legislation, that such fuels do not result in net reductions of greenhouse gas emissions when considering the entirety of the production to usage lifecycle. A potential alternative approach is to utilise the lipid content of organ...

The decreasing availability of fossil fuels and environmental issues associated with their use has placed a greater emphasis on biofuels production as a competent alternative source to produce energy in the current era. Production of biofuels from plant-based oil has a good prospect as a competent alternative to fossil fuels. The concept of utilizi...

Several bioactive compounds from microalgae have demonstrated diverse biological activities with positive effects on human health. However, the potential of bioactive peptides as functional foods is still undervalued. Therefore, the exploration of microalgae strains as sources of bioactive peptides could reveal strong and unique bioactivities, espe...

Date palms are predominately produced in arid regions and the date pits, or seeds, produced from them are sometimes considered to be a waste. Date pits, ground to powder following an oil extraction, were used to synthesize a renewable heterogeneous catalyst. The green carbon catalyst was modified by an alkaline earth metal oxide (CaO). The oil extr...

The present study intended to produce biodiesel as an efficient fuel from waste Phoenix dactylifera L. kernel oil in the presence of synthesized efficient heterogeneous metallic oxide catalyst (Mn@MgO-ZrO2). The performance of synthesized metallic oxide catalyst was evaluated based on biodiesel yield and the process has been optimized. The optimum...

Phoenix Dactylifera kernel is major agricultural waste produced in Oman. Current work was conducted to produce jet fuel and green diesel from hydrodeoxygenation of Phoenix dactylifera kernel oil in presence of Pd/C catalyst. The hydrodeoxygenation of Phoenix dactylifera kernel oil occurred to be highly efficient at following mild operating conditio...

In this study, an efficient utilization of waste Date pits biomass for synthesizing green carbon catalyst as well as production of biodiesel were investigated. The green carbon catalyst was modified by KOH and characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM and BET. Taguchi method in Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to study the effect of several...

Due to increasing concerns about global warming and dwindling oil supplies, the world’s attention is turning to green processes that use sustainable and environmentally friendly feedstock to produce renewable energy such as biofuels. Among them, biodiesel, which is made from nontoxic, biodegradable, renewable sources such as refined and used vegeta...

Cyanobacteria hold significant potential as industrial biotechnology (IB) platforms for the production of a wide variety of bio-products ranging from biofuels such as hydrogen, alcohols and isoprenoids, to high-value bioactive and recombinant proteins. Underpinning this technology, are the recent advances in cyanobacterial "omics" research, the dev...

Date pits are considered one of the major agricultural wastes in Oman. The present work involves the synthesis of active catalysts from waste date pits carbon produced by carbonization and impregnation with Pt and Pd metals. Synthesized catalysts Pt/C and Pd/C were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, BET and XPS. The activity of the catalysts’ per...

A lot of research has been performed on cyanobacteria and microalgae with the aim to produce numerous biotechnological products. However, native strains have a few shortcomings, like limitations in cultivation, harvesting and product extraction, which prevents reaching optimal production value at lowest costs. Such limitations require the intervent...

In developing future fuels there is an opportunity to make use of advances in many fields of science and engineering to ensure that such fuels are sustainable in both production and utilization. One such advance is the use of synthetic biology to re-engineer photosynthetic micro-organisms such that they are able to produce novel hydrocarbons direct...

FEATURE T he production of liquid fuels from biological material ('biomass') is gaining increasing interest worldwide. Climate change, rising fuel prices, political instability and depletion of petroleum resources are some of the recent concerns that have sparked this interest into alternatives from fossil fuels. As a result, many different biomass...