Kinetics Of Transesterification Research Articles

Preparation of biodiesel by transesterification of castor oil catalyzed by flaky halloysite supported ZnO/SnO2 heterojunction photocatalyst

Biodiesel belongs to renewable energy and is a potential substitute for petrochemical diesel. In this study, ZnO/SnO2@halloysite heterojunction photocatalyst was prepared by loading semiconductor zinc oxide and tin dioxide on layered kaolin by the improved wet calcination method, which was used to photocatalytic the transesterification of castor oil and ethanol to produce biodiesel. TG-DTG, BET, XRD, UV–vis and SEM-EDS were used to characterize the composition, specific surface area, light absorption characteristics and photocatalytic performance of the samples. The reaction conditions were optimized by the Taguchi method. The optimum reaction conditions were as follows: catalyst dosage 4 wt%, molar ratio of ethanol to oil 12:1, reaction temperature 75 °C. After 2 h, the yield of biodiesel was 96.75 %. In the study of catalyst reusability, the yield of biodiesel is still above 85 % after being reused for 5 times. The kinetics of photocatalytic transesterification was studied, and the results accorded with quasi-first-order kinetics. The activation energy was 75.02 kJ/mol. Lastly, an eight-step reaction mechanism of photocatalytic transesterification was proposed. The prepared castor oil biodiesel can be prepared into B20 biodiesel through additives or mixing to meet ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 standards.

Importance of hydrogen bonding in base-catalyzed transesterification reactions with vicinal diols

The transesterification reaction kinetics of 2-(benzoyloxy)ethyl benzoate with various alcohols (ethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1-butanol, propylene glycol and 1,2-butylene glycol) using various cyclic amidine catalysts were investigated. For transesterification with excess glycol (glycolysis), the rate was nearly zero order in diester and glycol concentration, which is substantially different from classical transesterification kinetics with mono-alcohols. The measured kinetic parameters during glycolysis are consistent with a reaction path that is kinetically limited by the decomposition of the reaction intermediate formed from the alkoxide and diester. The DFT-calculated reaction energy and activation barrier for decomposition of this intermediate reveal a critical role of intramolecular hydrogen-bond stabilization made possible by the vicinal –OH of the glycol that effectively increases the concentration of the intermediate during reaction resulting in acceleration of the overall transesterification rate. These findings indicate the nature of both the alcohol solvent and the catalyst influence transesterification rate, and results suggest they are also important in the deconstruction of carbonyl-containing condensation polymers.

Argan Cake Oil Transesterification Kinetics and an Optimized Choice of a High-Performance Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

Argan Cake Oil Transesterification Kinetics and an Optimized Choice of a High-Performance Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

Enhanced conversion of non-edible Jatropha oil to biodiesel utilizing highly reusable Mg decorated CoFe2O4 nanocatalyst: Optimization by RSM

This paper aims to develop a novel and efficient magnetic nanocatalyst for producing biodiesel from Jatropha oil. Therefore, Mg@CoFe2O4 nanocomposite as a retrievable, and strong catalyst was synthesized and employed for transesterification of Jatropha oil. After that, various analyzes were employed for characterizing Mg@CoFe2O4 nanocomposite, including XRD, Raman, FTIR, FESEM, EDX, CO2/TPD, BET, VSM, and TEM. These analyzes confirmed that Mg was successfully decorated on CoFe2O4. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize efficient variables on biodiesel generation. The utmost biodiesel efficiency utilizing CoFe2O4 and Mg@CoFe2O4 nanocatalysts were 93.99 % and 95.49 %, respectively, which are obtained at ultrasonication time of 32.21 and 33.96 min, respectively. These biodiesel yields indicate the extraordinary efficiency of both nanocatalysts. Also, Mg@CoFe2O4 indicated a high biodiesel yield (i.e., 87.43 %) after seven reuse steps, indicating the remarkable reusability of this nanocatalyst. The thermodynamics and kinetics of transesterification showed that the biodiesel generation reaction is endothermic and the reaction speed enhanced with enhancing temperature. Moreover, decoration of CoFe2O4 with Mg led to improved catalytic performance and boosted biodiesel yield. Overall, the Mg@CoFe2O4 nanocatalyst is strongly recommended for future investigation owing to its excellent biodiesel performance, short reaction time, and extraordinary reusability of the catalyst.

Continuous flow extraction of biodiesel produced in a packed-bed reactor using supercritical carbon dioxide and tetrahydrofuran as solvents

The concurrent process of biodiesel (FAME) extraction and triglyceride methanolysis was carried out by using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC–CO2) and tetrahydrofuran (THF). This study explored the integration of SC-CO2 extraction facilitated catalyst-free transesterification efficiently at low temperatures with practical biodiesel productivity. The work started with studying the transesterification kinetics of triglycerides using different molar ratios of methanol under various SC-CO2 conditions in the presence of THF solvent. The elementary second-order kinetics associated with the mass transfer limiting factor satisfied the experimental results from all different mixing ratios. A four-factorial Box-Behnken Design (BBD) coupled with the ANOVA was employed to optimize the FAME recovery by the reaction-extraction processes with continuous two streams of SC-CO2 and 10% v/v THF-methanol mixture. The optimum predicted FAME recovery was 95.47% w/w at 71.93 °C, 186.67 bar using the substrate ratio 12.16. The supercritical fluid-assisted dispersion feature was characterized through the Peclect number (Pe) obtained from the volumetric dispersion model (VDM). The Pe could indicate suitable substrate mixing for the process operation and design to enhance production efficiency. The feasibility of upscaling the process to the commercial level was proposed with preliminary economic consideration, which could suggest process improvements in further research and technological development.

Biodiesel Preparation without a Cosolvent in an Opposite-Side Micro-Fixed-Bed Reactor

In the process of preparing biodiesel using microreactors, cosolvents and homogeneous catalysts are generally used, which adds to the separation cost. Hence, this study explored the use of an opposite-side feed micro-fixed-bed reactor with an inner diameter of 2 mm to produce biodiesel by the transesterification of soybean oil and methanol without any cosolvent, in which a fixed solid base acted as catalyst and obstacles. A biodiesel yield of 99.4% was achieved when the methanol-to-oil molar ratio was 12, the temperature was 70 °C, and the residence time was 8.05 min. A mixing study was conducted for this microreactor through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The results showed that the best mixing index could reach 0.94 within 25 mm (length). Then, the transesterification kinetics in this reactor were found to be consistent with the proposed pseudo-homogeneous secondary reaction model. With the kinetics data and mixed-model, the biodiesel yield could be predicted. The simulated results were consistent with the experimental data.

Optimization and kinetics of biodiesel production of Ricinus communis oil and used cottonseed cooking oil employing synchronised ‘ultrasound + microwave’ and heterogeneous CaO catalyst

Current novel work investigates synchronized ultrasound and microwave (MW + US) applications with an appropriation of Ricinus communis oil (RCO) and used cottonseed cooking oil (UCCO) blends for biodiesel production. The study aims at process optimization, kinetic and energy analysis of biodiesel production where fuel properties improved. The effect of oil/methanol proportion, CaO %, RCO + UCCO blend ratio, and reaction time is examined using Box-Behnken investigational design. The appropriation of blended oil proportion as a process parameter has been deliberated for the first time. The optimized conditions were methanol:oil ratio: 9.7:1; CaO wt%: 2.8 wt%, reaction time: 12.3 min, and 59:41 of RCO:UCCO blend proportion with highest biodiesel yield of 92.11 ± 0.06%. The blended oil transesterification kinetics followed the pseudo-first-order, with activation energy 1.8 times lower than the conventional process. Blended oil biodiesel showed ∼7.5% enhanced calorific value and two-time viscosity reduction than RCO biodiesel. Fuel properties found equivalent to ASTM-D6751 biodiesel standards.

Kinetics measurement of ethylene-carbonate synthesis via a fast transesterification by microreactors

High-purity ethylene carbonate (EC) is widely used as battery electrolyte, polycarbonate monomer, organic intermediate, and so on. An economical and sustainable route to synthesize high-purity ethylene carbonate (EC) via the transesterification of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with ethylene glycol (EG) is provided in this work. However, this reaction is so fast that the reaction kinetics, which is essential for the industrial design, is hard to get by the traditional measuring method. In this work, an easy-to-assemble microreactor was used to precisely determine the reaction kinetics for the fast transesterification of DMC with EG using sodium methoxide as catalyst. The effects of flow rate, microreactor diameter, catalyst concentration, reaction temperature, and reactant molar ratio were investigated. An activity-based pseudo-homogeneous kinetic model, which considered the non-ideal properties of reaction system, was established to describe the transesterification of DMC with EG. Detailed kinetics data were collected in the first 5 min. Using these data, the parameters of the kinetic model were correlated with the maximum average error of 11.19%. Using this kinetic model, the kinetic data at different catalyst concentrations and reactant molar ratios were predicted with the maximum average error of 13.68%, suggesting its satisfactory prediction performance.

Mechanism and kinetics of melt transesterification with siloxane diol

Chemical reactivity will have new traits in system combining organic and silicon compounds. In this paper, the kinetics of melt transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) with a siloxane diol of 1,3-bis(3-hydroxypropyl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane (HP-TMDS) was fitted on the premise of the reaction mechanism obtained by quantum-chemistry calculation. This work reveals that the siloxane diol changes the reaction process and gives the classical transesterification its peculiarity, including more obvious advantage in kinetics for cyclic dimer and limited compatibility between reactant and catalyst. A solution is proposed to solve the problem resulting from the limited compatibility, which can be reference to any similar systems. The obvious advantage in kinetics for cyclic dimer brings a distinct feature in the product composition, which will provide more flexible and effective way to prepare silicon-containing polyesters.

Modifications in the kinetics of transesterification of sunflower oil over strontium supported on silica by barium doping

Modifications in the kinetics of transesterification of sunflower oil over strontium supported on silica by barium doping

Kinetics and optimization of biodiesel production from rapeseed oil over calcined waste filter cake from sugar beet processing plant

A low-cost, highly active CaO-based catalyst was prepared from waste filter cake (WFC) from a sugar beet processing factory by calcination in air at 900 °C for 2 h, referred to as the calcined filter cake (CFC). It was used to catalyze the rapeseed oil transesterification with methanol under mild reaction conditions (methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 9:1, catalyst loading of 4–10 %, and reaction temperature of 40–60 °C). Rapeseed oil was characterized regarding the physicochemical properties and fatty acid profile. Low free fatty acid content (about 2.0 mg KOH/g) allowed the direct use of the base CFC catalyst for rapeseed oil transesterification. Rapeseed oil has more unsaturated fatty acids (about 93 %), with oleic acid as the most abundant, than saturated fatty acids (about 7 %). A simplified model combining the changing mechanism of the reaction and the triacylglycerols mass transfer limitation successfully describes the kinetics of transesterification. A good agreement between the model and the experiment was proved by the mean relative percentage deviation for the conversion degree of only ± 7.43 % (based on 42 data). The apparent reaction rate constant follows the Arrhenius equation with the activation energy of 51.9 kJ mol−1. The FAME content higher than 96.5 % can be obtained in wide ranges of the catalyst amount (4–10 %) and the reaction time (about 45–70 min). The following conditions were optimum: the reaction temperature of 59.2 °C, the catalyst loading of 9.1 % (based on the oil weight), and the reaction time of 47 min.

Revealing the roles of hydrogen bond and Al2Cl7− anion species and kinetics for ionic liquid catalyzed transesterification of ethylene carbonate with methanol

The co-production of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and ethylene glycol (EG) from the transesterification of ethylene carbonate (EC), which is synthesized from CO2 and ethylene oxide, with methanol has received researchers’ attention. Herein, this transformative process catalyzed with metal chloride-based ionic liquids (ILs) was investigated by employing spectroscopic characterizations in combination with kinetic studies. The interaction between cation and methanol via hydrogen bond and activation of carbonyl group in EC (or 2-hydroxyethyl methyl carbonate, HEMC) by metal chloride-contained anion were identified to show synergistic effects on catalytic transesterification. The chain length of alkyl group substituted at the 1-position N atom in imidazole ring affected the reaction rates due to the steric hindrance effect. Not AlCl4− but Al2Cl7− anion species in AlCl3-based IL exhibited activity in this transesterification, and the content of Al2Cl7− species was observed to show linear relationship with the transformative rates of both EC and HEMC. The kinetic studies also elucidated that the rates of both EC (or HEMC) and methanol are first-order dependent on their concentrations, and the formation of HEMC intermediate was the kinetic-relevant step with the activation barrier of 92 kJ/mol. As a result, the yield and selectivity of DMC (or EG) could reach up to around 95 % and 97 % with catalysis of [MDMIM]Cl/AlCl3 with AlCl3 molar fraction of 0.67 after 12 h reaction at 140 °C, which showed higher performance than any other tested metal chloride-based IL. Besides, no decay in catalytic activity and selectivity of this IL was observed after 10 times’ recycling.

Biodiesel synthesis from waste canarium schweinfurtii oil (WCSO) catalyzed by thermal reinforced clay and its kinetics evaluation

The synthesis of biodiesel from waste local materials and kinetics of heterogeneous catalyzed transesterification was carried out. The local materials used were waste canarium schweinfurtii oil (WCSO) and clay. The oil was extracted from the seeds by solvent extraction method and characterized using American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM 02). The clay was reinforced thermally by heating it in a muffle furnace at a temperature of 700 °C and characterized using instrumental analysis to identify its catalytic properties. The kinetic investigation of the heterogeneous catalyzed transesterification of WCSO was done using Eley-Rideal (ER) mechanism. The results revealed that WCSO is a potential feedstock for biodiesel production with oil yield of 50.11 % and its physiochemical properties were suitable for heterogeneous catalysis. The thermally reinforced clay exhibited catalytic properties required for conversion of WCSO triglyceride to biodiesel with 85.3 % yield of 85.3 %. The experimental data well fitted to ER kinetic model with 95 % level of significance. The rate controlling step for reaction was surface reaction between adsorbed triglyceride and non-adsorbed methanol with lower activation energy of 4.53 kJ/mol for forward reaction. Hence, it is economical to produce biodiesel from waste canarium schweinfurtii oil via transesterification reaction catalyzed by thermally reinforced clay.

Biodiesel Production through Acid Catalyst In Situ Reactive Extraction of Chlorella vulgaris Foamate

A method of biodiesel production from the freshwater microalgae Chlorella vulgaris based on the conversion of the dewatered algal biomass from a foam column (“foamate”) was investigated. The foam column collected and concentrated the microalgae. The foam was generated by passing air through a pool of algae, to which a collector/surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) had been added. To produce biodiesel, the resultant “foamate” was esterified in situ using sulfuric acid and methanol. The effect of reaction temperature (30–70 °C), reaction time (30–120 min) and methanol/oil molar ratio (100–1000), were examined in a single-stage extraction–transesterification experiment on biodiesel yield at concentration of the catalyst H2SO4/oil molar ratio of (8.5/1). The thermodynamics and kinetics of transesterification of the microalgae oil were also investigated. The maximum biodiesel yield (96 ± 0.2%) was obtained at a reaction temperature of 70 °C, a reaction time of 90 min and methanol/oil molar ratio of 1000/1. Reaction kinetic parameters were determined that fitted the experimental data at all temperatures. A reversible reaction with first order forward and second order backward kinetics were found to be a good match for the experimental results. The kinetic model fitted experiments well under various temperatures and methanol/oil mole ratios. Under the most suitable conditions of reaction temperature, reaction time and methanol/oil molar ratio, the apparent activation energy was found to be 18.7 kJ/mol and pre-exponential factor 51.4 min−1. The activation entropy (ΔS), change in Gibbs free energy (ΔG) and variation in activation enthalpy (ΔH) revealed that the transesterification reaction is endergonic and unspontaneous, while the endothermic nature of the reaction was confirmed by the positive value (16.6 kJ/mol) of the ΔH. The thermodynamic information and kinetic model reported here will provide valuable insight into the understanding of the in situ transesterification process from algae foamate to biodiesel.

Ultrasound-assisted transesterification of tropical goat fat – Palm oil blend for biodiesel synthesis

• Goat fat and palm oil mixture is proven as a promising raw material for biodiesel. • Ultrasound considerably speeds up transesterification of oil in biodiesel synthesis. • Catalyst loading, temperature, and methanol-to-oil molar ratio affect biodiesel yield. • Ultrasound-assisted transesterification obeys the pseudo-first order reaction. • A maximum biodiesel yield of 78.50 % with 98.69 % purity was obtained from goat fat. The increasing trend of global energy demand has encouraged the development of renewable energies, especially those derived from biomass and agricultural residues. This work aimed to study the effect of catalyst loading, temperature, and methanol-to-oil molar ratio on the yield and the reaction kinetics of ultrasound-assisted transesterification of tropical goat fats for biodiesel synthesis. Prior to trans -esterification, the oil extracted from the tropical goat fat was mixed with an equal volume of tropical palm oil to prevent its solidification tendency. To reduce the free fatty acids content of the mixed oil, it was esterified using a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 9 employing 1 wt% sulfuric acid as the catalyst at 65 °C and 400 rpm agitation speed for 60 min. Then, the esterified oil was further subjected to an ultrasound-assisted transesterification system with sodium hydroxide catalyst for the reaction kinetics and biodiesel synthesis studies. The biodiesel properties were evaluated by both laboratory tests and BiodieselAnalyzer® software, which employs the fatty acid methyl ester composition obtained from GC–MS analysis. The highest conversion (78.50%) was achieved at 65 °C, 2.5 wt% of NaOH, and 8:1 methanol/oil blend molar ratio for 60 min. The pseudo-first order reaction fitted all the experimental data very well by giving the R 2 values higher than 0.98 and an apparent reaction rate constant of 2.15×10 −2 min −1 at the optimum condition. Furthermore, all the examined biodiesel physicochemical properties fulfilled the ASTM D6751 standard suggesting the promising potential of goat fats as the raw material for biodiesel manufacture.

Oligonucleotides containing abasic threoninol-terpyridine residues as potential artificial ribonucleases

Artificial ribonucleases, also known as synthetic ribozymes, were synthesized with an internal, stereochemically-pure, abasic threoninol backbone-residue to which the RNA transesterification catalyst copper (II) terpyridine was covalently linked. These oligonucleotide conjugates were constructed to determine if the stereochemistry of the abasic threoninol backbone residue influences the transesterification rate of complementary RNA oligonucleotides. Following synthesis, these compounds were reacted with complementary 28-mer and 159-mer RNA substrates and their relative transesterification efficiencies were determined. The transesterification kinetics were also compared with previously synthesized oligonucleotides that incorporated copper (II) terpyridine via a serinol-residue. It was determined that oligonucleotides that contained copper (II) terpyridine linked via a (2S,3S)-threoninol backbone were more efficient at RNA transesterification than their (2R,3R)-stereoisomer counterpart.

Sustainable Biodiesel Production by Transesterification of Waste Cooking Oil and Recycling of Wastewater Rich in Glycerol as a Feed to Microalgae

The amount of solid and liquid organic waste and wastewater is continuously increasing all over the world. The necessity of their reuse and recycling is, therefore, becoming more and more pressing. Furthermore, the limited fossil fuel resources, in conjunction with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, advocate the production of renewable fuels. In this work, we analyze a sustainable second-generation process to produce biodiesel by transesterification of waste cooking oil, coupled with a third-generation process in cascade for recycling the incoming wastewater. Since this latter is rich in glycerol, it is used as a feed for microalgae, from which oil can be extracted and added to the waste cooking oil to further produce biodiesel and close the cycle. We studied the influence of different factors like temperature, catalyst load, and reactants ratio on the kinetics of transesterification of the waste oil and estimated the kinetic parameters by different kinetic schemes. The obtained values of activation energies and pre-exponential factors at chosen conditions of T = 60 °C and catalyst load of 0.6% w/w in methanol are: Ea,direct = 35,661 J mol−1, Ea,reverse = 72,989 J mol−1, k0,direct = 9.7708 [dm3 mol−1]3 min−1, and k0,reverse = 24,810 [dm3 mol−1]3 min−1 for the global fourth-order reversible reaction scheme and Ea = 67,348 J mol−1 and k0 = 2.157 × 109 min−1 for the simplified pseudo-first-order irreversible reaction scheme; both in strong agreement with literature data. Furthermore, we designed very efficient conditions for discontinuous and continuous operating mode, both at lab-scale and pilot-scale. The quality of the biodiesel produced from waste cooking sunflower oil is compared with that of biodiesel produced by different kinds of virgin vegetable oils, showing that the former possesses acceptable quality standards (Cetane number = 48 and LHV = 36,600 kJ kg−1). Finally, the recycling of wastewater rich in glycerol as a nutrient for mixotrophic microalgae nurturing is discussed, and microalgae growing kinetics are evaluated (k1 about 0.5 day−1), endorsing the possibility of algae extraction each 4–5 days in a semi-continuous operating mode. The experimental results at the pilot scale finally confirm the quality of biodiesel, and the obtained yields for a two-stage process prove the competitiveness of this sustainable process on the global market.

Transesterification using isopropanol as a co‐solvent for the production of green biodiesel fuel

Previously, we have conducted the transesterification using isopropanol (IPA) as a co-solvent for biodiesel fuel (BDF) production in the homogeneous condition (a single fatty acid methyl ester [FAME] phase). In this report, we investigated the transesterification kinetics by varying IPA amount and the optimum conditions for BDF production with 10 wt% IPA. In the IPA amount of 5 to 25 wt%, the transesterification proceeded in a heterogeneous condition (FAME and glycerol [GL] phases) as the GL phase was formed and separated from the FAME phase. The transesterification rate increased with the increase of IPA amount, and the correlation coefficient (r) between the rate constant and IPA amount was 0.97 (P < 0.05). The optimal conditions of transesterification for biodiesel production from canola oil with 10 wt% IPA were as follows: 1.0 wt% KOH, MeOH/oil molar ratio of 6:1, and a reaction temperature of 30°C. The quality of biodiesel satisfied the JIS K2390 and EN 14214 standards. Transesterification using 10 wt% IPA co-solvent could facilitate the phase separation after the reaction, and the amount of waste was reduced. The recovery of IPA from FAME phase was >96%, hence IPA could be reused. These results indicated that IPA was a superior co-solvent for the BDF production from plant oil feedstocks. Novelty statement Isopropanol as a co-solvent for biodiesel production from canola oil was examined. Kinetic parameter of reaction rate was estimated. The transesterification proceeded rapidly with increase of isopropanol. The transesterification conditions were optimized for biodiesel production with 10 wt% of isopropanol.

Kinetics and Transesterification of the Oil Obtained from Cussonia bateri (Jansa Seed) as a Step in Biodiesel Production Using Natural Heterogeneous Catalyst

The ongoing search for a more sustainable, renewable, and affordable fuel source has necessitated the quest and search for a better diesel. Biodiesel, an environmentally friendly diesel, has been able to solve many of the issues that have arisen as a result of the use of fossil fuels. They are mostly synthesized by transesterification of a FFA with an alcohol employing an appropriate catalyst. This study examines the use of jansa seed oil as a low-cost feedstock for biodiesel production. Transesterification of free fatty acids (FFA) with methanol and ethanol catalyzed by snail shell was used to process the biodiesel. In the biodiesel production, the alcohol to oil molar ratio was 12:1, the catalyst amount was 0.75 g, and the reaction temperature was 65°C. The reversible second-order reaction rate was used to characterize the kinetics of FFA transesterification. Kinetic modeling of the biodiesel production process was also carried out in order to determine the sequence of the reaction and estimate the reaction rate constant. The activation energy of the ethyl ester was higher than that of the methyl ester, implying that the ethyl ester would require more energy (slower reaction rate) to activate a molecule for chemical transformation. The reusability of the catalyst for continuous transesterfication runs was investigated under the same operating conditions, and the conversion of the catalyst declined from 99.6 percent to 86.4 percent after the fifth regeneration cycle. Jansa seed oil has the potential to be a valuable raw source for generating fatty oil for the use as an alternate feedstock in the production of biodiesel.

Comparison of biodiesel production using a novel porous Zn/Al/Co complex oxide prepared from different methods: Physicochemical properties, reaction kinetic and thermodynamic studies

The use of heterogeneous catalysts in the transesterification reaction is an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach for biodiesel production as compared to the homogeneous catalyst-based processes. In this study, a heterogeneous cobalt doping Zn/Al complex oxide was prepared by a simple birch-templating method, and successfully applied to the transesterification of jatropha oil with methanol. The catalyst had strong diffraction peaks of ZnAl2O4 spinel crystal with substitutional doping of amorphous cobalt atom. It had a tendency to achieve a high base strength whilst increasing the specific surface area in the presence of cobalt. By contrast to the impregnation and coprecipitation methods, the crystalline particles from templating method were uniformly distributed on the catalyst surface, thus forming a well-defined tiled network with large amounts of grain-free pores. The exposure of available activity sites resulted in a biodiesel yield of 91.4%. After used several times and recycled, the regenerated catalyst also exhibited good catalytic potency without obvious deactivation. The transesterification kinetics satisfied the Pseudo first order model that controlled by the reaction temperature and catalyst dosage. The thermodynamic parameters of ΔH of 16.7 kJ/mol, ΔS of −284.6 J/mol/K, and ΔG of 140.0 kJ/mol suggested an endothermic, endergonic, and non-spontaneous nature of the reaction.