Catalyst activation by cold plasma technology and its effect on isomerization of safflower seed oil

High voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) is a novel catalyst modification technology. In this study, a ruthenium/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Ru/MWCNTs) catalyst was activated by HVACP instead of the thermal reduction method. The results showed that HVACP activation under the conditions of 180 s discharge time, 150 W discharge power, and 2.5 cm electrode spacing at 25 degrees C could effectively decrease the activation temperature and time. At this time, the Ru dispersion was 20.1% and the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) yield was 43.0%. Catalyst characterization proved that the HVACP-treated catalyst did not aggregate and had a good activation effect. The catalyst was applied to the isomerization reaction of safflower seed oil to obtain CLA-rich safflower seed oil. The total CLA content was 43.02%, the trans-oleic acid content was 1.34%, the iodine value (IV) was 133.50 gI2/100 g, and after reusing five times, the relative activity of the catalyst remained at 77%, which provided the conditions for the preparation of functional oil.

Automated summary

In this study, a ruthenium/multi-walled carbon nanotubes catalyst was activated using high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP). The HVACP activation effectively reduced the activation temperature and time, and the catalyst was successfully applied to the isomerization reaction of safflower seed oil to obtain CLA-rich safflower seed oil.