MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NANOMATERIALS PRODUCED FROM CO-PRODUCTS OF THE ETHANOL PRODUCTION (DDGS)

Reduction of combustion-emitted greenhouse gases, which are associated with global warming, may be achieved by use of CO2-neutral alternative fuels, such as bio-ethanol. Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) are the main co-products of the corn-grain-based ethanol industries. In 2009, the North American production of ethanol from corn was about 38 billion liters, which generated approximately 31.5 million tons of DDGS. Samples of DDGS were pyrolysed at temperatures of 600-1000 degrees C in a two-stage laminar-flow horizontal furnace, and a catalyst system was used to synthesize nanomaterials. This work presents a microstructural characterization of these nanomaterials by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results showed that the nanomaterials produced from pyrolysis of DDGS were in the form of long, entangled, rope-like structures with rugged walls, lengths in the tens of microns, and axially non-uniform diameters in the range of 100-300 nm.