Preparation, Characterization of Graphite Oxide Loaded with K2CO3 as Heterogeneous Catalyst and Its Transesterification Application

Abstract

A novel heterogeneous solid base catalyst was prepared by graphite oxide loaded with K2CO3 compound and successfully applied to transesterification of soybean oil with methanol to biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters). The prepared catalyst was characterized using techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry analysis, and the Hammett indicator methods. The effect of various parameters such as methanol/oil molar ratio, reaction temperature, catalyst amount, reaction time on the prepared catalytic activity was investigated. The optimal transesterification conditions obtained by this experiment were: methanol/oil molar ratio of 15:1, reaction temperature of 65°C, catalyst amount of 3.0 wt%, and reaction time of 3h. The prepared heterogeneous solid base catalyst has longer lifetime, and biodiesel yield could be still over 87.1% after being used for five cycles.