Esterification of oleic acid using CoFe 2 O 4 @MoS 2 solid acid catalyst under microwave irradiation

Ensuring highly efficient biodiesel production requires catalysts. Therefore, developing heterogeneous catalysts capable of being recovered and reused without compromising effectiveness is crucial. In this context, the CoFe 2 O 4 @MoS 2 heterogeneous magnetic acid catalyst was synthesized and characterized in detail by XRD, SEMEDX, BET surface area, magnetic property and acid strength. Finally, the catalytic performance of this catalyst was evaluated for the esterification of oleic acid by microwave-assisted method. The fabricated CoFe 2 O 4 @MoS 2 catalyst has a strong saturation magnetization of 15.78 emu/g, a surface area of 6.70 m 2 /g, and a high acid loading of 2.1 mmol H + /g, according to the characterization data. The highest oleic acid conversion of 98.2 % was achieved under the optimum conditions (7.5 wt% catalyst amount, 15:1 methanol to oleic acid molar ratio, 2 h reaction time, and 140 degrees C temperature). To study a comparison between heating methods, the esterification reaction was carried out under conventional heating and microwave heating was found to significantly reduce the reaction time from 4 to 2 h. The catalytic activity did not decrease considerably after eight times use, indicating that the composites exhibited strong stability and recycling capability.