Vegetable Oils as Sustainable Feedstock for Mechanocatalytic Fabrication of Diamond-like Carbon Films

2026 USDA-NIFA Competitive Research Support

Principal Investigators and affiliations:

• PI: Dr. Pranjal Nautiyal, Oklahoma State University
• Funded: $84,034
  
• Start Date: 1/1/2026
  
• End Date: 8/30/2026
  

Objectives

1. Establish the correlation between the chemical structure and the mechanocatalytic reactivity of vegetable oils.
   
2. Determine the impact of catalyst composition on the mechanocatalytic reactivity of vegetable oils.

Expected Project Outcomes

This research will lead to the discovery of biobased oils capable of forming diamond-like carbon (DLC) films via mechanocatalysis. Mechanocatalytic reactivity of vegetable oils is currently unknown. The proposed experiments will elucidate how the chemical structure of oils affects the outcome of mechanocatalytic reactions, linking the feedstock oil with the yield, growth kinetics, and composition of DLC films. This will ultimately enable the creation of material libraries of mechanocatalytically active oils. This project will also uncover the mechanisms by which vegetable oils chemically interact with HEA catalysts. We will elucidate the effect of HEA’s atomic/nanoscale structure on the mechanocatalystic reaction mechanisms. This will lead to the future development of more effective catalysts for converting vegetable oils into DLC films.