Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Two-way Valorization of Blast Furnace Slag: Synthesis of Precipitated Calcium Carbonate and Zeolitic Heavy Metal Adsorbent
Published on: February 21, 2017
Chemical Valorization of Cashew Nut Shell Waste
1Chemistry Department, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35061, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. ebmubofu@udsm.ac.tz.
Abstract:
Cashew nut shells are agro-wastes produced from cashew nut processing factories and contain about 30-35 wt% oil called cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL). This liquid is a mixture of four potential compounds, namely anacardic acid, cardanol, cardol and 2-methyl cardol. Various reactions have been developed to convert the components of cashew nut shell liquid into industrially important chemicals, and these materials are herein described. Such reactions employed in the transformation include transfer hydrogenation reactions, isomerization reactions, metathesis reactions, carbonylation reactions, polymerization reactions, isomerizing metathesis reaction, and isomerizing carbonylation reactions. Through these descriptions, one realizes that cashew nut shells are not a waste, but they are rather a good source of a potential liquid, CNSL, which is a promising renewable resource for synthesizing various industrial chemicals.
Related Concept Videos
Chemical Formulas
Chemical Equations
Chemical Reactions
Chemical Reactions Rearrange Atoms into New Substances
A chemical reaction takes starting materials—the reactants—and changes them...
Chemical Reactions
The relative amounts of reactants and products represented in a balanced chemical equation are often referred to as stoichiometric amounts. However, in...
Types of Chemical Bonds
Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter

