AI Summary
- Benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers are capable of analyzing pyrolysis bio-oils as effectively as more expensive high-field spectrometers. - Bio-oils resulting from pyrolysis are potential alternatives to fossil fuels but their composition determines their stability and treatment. - Analyzing the complex mixtures of compounds in bio-oils is challenging and expensive. - The presence of carbonyl groups in the bio-oils, which can impact stability, is important to know. - The research was conducted by a team of researchers at Aston University.
A team of researchers at Aston University has demonstrated that benchtop spectrometers are capable of analyzing pyrolysis bio-oils just as well as far more expensive, high-field spectrometers.
Bio-oils resulting from the intense heating (pyrolysis) of industrial or agricultural by-products, are increasingly seen as potential alternatives to fossil fuels. But the stability and consequent treatment of these bio-oils depends entirely on their composition; and since they are often mixtures of many dozens, or hundreds, of different compounds, analyzing such complex mixtures is not simple—or cheap.
Dr. Robert Evans, Senior Lecturer in Physical Chemistry at Aston University, explains, “The composition of any pyrolysis bio-oil is absolutely key to future use. For example if there are oxygen-containing chemicals in the oil, that will make the oil more corrosive and it will be more unstable. So in particular we need to know if carbonyl groups are present—where oxygen and carbon atoms are bonded together—as these can have a major impact.”
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