Production of biodiesel over ZnO-TiO2 bifunctional oxide catalyst supported on natural zeolite

Abstract

In this paper, biodiesel is produced from palm oil and methanol via the transesterification process over the heterogeneous catalyst. The metal oxide ZnO-TiO2 was impregnated into natural zeolite over the dry impregnation method. The ZnO-TiO2/NZ catalyst was prepared over the dry impregnation method. The catalysts' characteristic was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The biodiesel was analyzed by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed a functional group of methyl ester (C=O, carbonyl group) at 1744.51 cm-1. The components of methyl ester such as hexadecanoic acid methyl ester (C17), cis-9-heptadecanoic acid methyl ester (C18), oleic acid methyl ester (C19), are present in the biodiesel with the percent area of 0.05%, 0.08%, 0.63%, 7.06%, 16.3%, respectively, over ZnO-TiO2/NZ catalyst with a metal ratio of 1:1. This catalyst was successful in the transesterification of palm oil to produce biodiesel.