Catalytic performances of CeO2@SBA-15 as nanostructured material for biodiesel production from Podocarpus falcatus oil

Biodiesel was synthesized by transesterification of Podocapus falcatus oil (PFO) using functio-nalized mesoporous silica (CeO2@SBA-15) as a heterogeneous nanocatalyst. SBA-15 and CeO2@SBA-15 catalysts were synthesized using one-step solvothermal method. Physicochemical properties of both catalysts (SBA-15 and CeO2@SBA-15) were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N2 adsorption-desorption. In addition, PFO and resulting biodiesel were characterized by FT-IR, followed by the physicochemical properties' determination. To optimize the production of biodiesel, some parameters such as reaction temperature, reaction time, catalyst concentration and methanol/oil molar ratio were varied. As a result, the optimum amount of 80.2 % in biodiesel was obtained in a molar ratio of 40:1 (alcohol: oil) at 6 % weight of catalyst, at 100 degrees C for 5 h. Obtained results from physicochemical properties of the synthesized biodiesel were in good agreement with the standard validation method of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM6751).(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers.