Preparation of Conjugated Linoleic Acid by Ultrasound-assisted Nanonickel Catalyst Isomerization of Sunflower Oil

A homemade nanonickel catalyst was made by the ultrasonic liquid-phase reduction method, characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, and applied to the isomerization reaction of high linoleic acid sunflower oil. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and particle size analysis showed that the homemade nickel particles were spherical, uniformly dispersed, less agglomerated, 20 to 75 nm in size, and nanoscale nickel powder. Compared with commercially available Raney nickel, the homemade nanonickel powder has a larger specific surface area, smaller pore size and higher catalytic activity. The X-ray diffraction spectrum of the homemade nanonickel powder had distinct diffraction peaks at its characteristic peaks which indicated that the powder was pure nickel. The nanometal nickel particles are fully dispersed in high oleic sunflower oil under the action of ultrasound. The results showed that it could effectively reduce the activation reaction time of nanonickel, and the conversion rate of conjugated linoleic acid could reach 86.24%. The process of activating the catalyst is omitted, the number of times of repeated uses of the nanonickel catalyst is increased, and the environmental pollution of the production is avoided. To obtain sunflower oil rich in CLA, it also provides a new idea for the preparation of conjugated linoleic acid.