Synthesis and characterization of metal oxide nanoparticles for refinery applications

Abstract

Nanotechnology refers to manipulating and controlling the arrangement of atoms in the range of few nanometers typically from 1nm to 100nm. Nanotechnology has the potential to create many new materials and devices with wide ranging applications, such as in medicine for drug delivery, in electronics using silica nano-coating to make water proof mobiles, in energy production using quantum dot coated solar cells and also in the fields of refining and processing. Today, a range of elements and compounds not only synthesized and characterized in nanometerscale but they have been successfully deployed as commercial products e.g., metals & metal oxide nanoparticles, nanoscale semiconductors, Carbon nanotubes, Graphene etc. Nanotechnology has also found several important applications in refining and petrochemical industry such as nano-adsorbents and nano-catalysts. This report covers literature survey of Cerium oxide, Bismuth oxide, Magnesium oxide, Zirconium oxide, Antimony oxide, Iron oxide, Copper oxide, Molybdenum oxide & Zinc oxide nanoparticles (MONs). It includes synthesis and characterization of Cerium oxide, magnesium oxide & bismuth oxide nanoparticles in aqueous medium and their transfer to hydrocarbon medium to form stable dispersion.