Morphologically controlled synthesis of 1-dimensional selenium dioxide and study of its application as catalyst for diesel fuel additive

In this research work, selenium dioxide (SeO₂) nanorods have been prepared by a solvothermal method in which a strong reducing agent (NaBH₄) was used to reduce precursor salt into SeO₂ nanorods. X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique was applied to observe the crystal structure which confirmed its tetragonal geometry. Moreover, morphology and particle size were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM fully described the 1-dimensional morphology of SeO₂ nanorods which then arranged themselves to create a 3-dimensional flower-like structure with an average particle size of 50 nm. Also, the catalytic activity of SeO₂ nanorods as diesel-additive was studied by defining different parameters such as fire and flash points, calorific value, cloud and pour points, specific gravity, and kinematic viscosity. Subsequently, SeO₂ nanorods proved to be an excellent diesel additive due to higher total heat content and lower value of kinematic viscosity which enhances the better performance of the diesel engine.