Nanomaterials used in biorefineries: types, properties, and synthesis methods

Countries are increasingly becoming aware of the urgent need to transition toward lower carbon dioxide emitting societies. While certain industries such as the transportation sector have been difficult to decarbonize thus far, continued development into biomass-derived fuels such as biodiesel will likely aid this transition. Traditionally, biodiesel has been made via a two-step homogeneous process, with acidic or basic catalysts required to improve reaction kinetics. More recent explorations into heterogeneous catalysis have facilitated simpler separation and recovery of catalyst from the produced biodiesel, without expensive cleanup prior to use. The application of nanotechnology however has the potential to achieve even greater catalytic performances. By careful design of the nanomaterial, successful nanoscale catalysts have been synthesized with impressive yields, reaction kinetics, stability, impurity tolerance, and even magnetic separability. The field of nanocatalysis for biodiesel production continues to develop at pace and proves an exciting area of current research. The present chapter is focused on various types of nanomaterials that have been produced to date and their catalytic properties to the future potential for full-scale, industrial biorefinery operation.