AC/CuFe2O4@CaO as a novel nanocatalyst to produce biodiesel from chicken fat

Abstract

In this work, activated carbon (AC) powder prepared by lotus leaves was impregnated with CuFe2O4 nanoparticles and the AC/CuFe2O4 nanoparticles were then encapsulated with CaO. Therefore, the AC/CuFe2O4@CaO was used as an efficient and novel nanocatalyst to produce biodiesel from chicken fat. In order to determine the physical characteristics of the AC/CuFe2O4@CaO nanocatalyst, a number of analyses were performed, including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX), X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) analyses. The results of EDX analysis showed that the catalyst was well synthesized. Also, TEM analysis proved that the catalyst consists of nanoscale particles. In addition, impacts of various factors including methanol/oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration, reaction time and temperature on the produced biodiesel from the chicken fat were investigated. The results showed that the best biodiesel yield of 95.6% could be achieved at a methanol/oil molar ratio of 12:1, catalyst concentration of 3 wt%, reaction time of 4 h, and reaction temperature of 65 °C which was a considerable amount. Moreover, the characteristics of the biodiesel fuel such as density, kinematic viscosity, pour point, flash point, cloud point, Ca content, acid number, and oxidation stability were measured and compared to ASTM D6751 and EN14214 international standards. The results illustrated that biodiesel was not suitable for cold weather, while very good outcomes were observed in terms of the flash point. Besides, biodiesel had density, viscosity, acid number, and oxidation stability within the range of above mentioned standards.