Effect of Application of Mesoporous Silica on Titanium Dioxide Sulfate catalyst for Synthesis of Palmitate Ethyl Ester as Biodiesel

Abstract

This research studied the effect of the addition of mesoporous silica on the active site SO4 2-/TiO2. Mesoporous silica was designed to be a matrix that affects the surface area of the catalyst activity. This study aimed to obtain a solid acid catalyst capable of treating palmitic acid with ethanol through an esterification reaction. The research began with the synthesis of SO4 2-/TiO2 catalyst, followed by the addition of synthetic mesoporous silica support. Both of these catalysts were applied to the palmitic acid esterification reaction. The activity of the SO4 2-/TiO2 catalyst was observed at variations of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% in the application. Observations through the analysis of gas chromatography-mass spectra for the indicated application of 20% obtained the highest % area of ethyl ester palmitate was reached at 96.15. For the modified SO4 2-/TiO2 catalyst with mesoporous silica support synthesized with different purification steps. They are ethanol-acid and calcined, which are indicated to have a % area of 83.14 and 94.22. In order to be able to define the ethyl ester palmitate and this catalyst, the microstructure characterization was carried out using the FTIR and XRD methods. Several indications resulting from the characterization of SO4 2-/TiO2 supported by mesoporous silica for 2θ were 23.430 and 25.190, which indicate the presence of silica in the position of mesoporous silica and TiO2 in the anatase phase.