Influence of Surface Roughness, Electrical, and Structural Properties on the Catalytic Sulfurization of Glutamic Acid for S-Glutamate Production: Enhancement in Rate and Selectivity under the Catalyst of Lycopene

Abstract

S-glutamate nanoparticles are synthesized via a catalytic transfer sulfurization process with the aid of lycopene, and they are subsequently characterized by Raman, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDS. The average size of the S-glutamate particles was found to be between 10 and 50 nm based on the analysis of Image J. The average surface roughness of the glutamate nanoparticles was measured to be 6.42 nm ± 12.6 nm. The radial average made it easier to find the regularity ratio (R) of glutamate particles, which is estimated to be between 0.23 and 0.75 %. Zeta potential provides information about the stability of the colloidal system, which ranges from +30 mV to -30 mV. The catalytic characteristics of S-glutamate nanoparticles were ultimately investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy. When lycopene or H₂S are heated to 100°C for 45 min, lycopene shows 81.9 % catalytic activity in the conversion of glutamic acid to S-glutamate and 89.2% with selectivity. Lycopene alone demonstrates 35.68% catalytic activity in the conversion of glutamic acid to glutamate with ethanol for the reaction time of 15 min. Moreover, lycopene-100 is stable and exhibits high catalytic efficiency in the decomposition of glutamic acids using various polar solvents.