Catalytic performances of CeO2@SBA-15 as nanostructured material for biodiesel production from Podocarpus falcatus oil

Biodiesel was synthesized by transesterification of Podocapus falcatus oil (PFO) using functionalized mesoporous silica (CeO2@SBA-15) as a heterogeneous nanocatalyst. SBA-15 and CeO2@SBA-15 catalysts were synthesized using one-step solvothermal method. Physicochemical properties of both catalysts (SBA-15 and CeO2@SBA-15) were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N2 adsorption-desorption. In addition, PFO and resulting biodiesel were characterized by FT-IR, followed by the physicochemical properties’ determination. To optimize the production of biodiesel, some parameters such as reaction temperature, reaction time, catalyst concentration and methanol/oil molar ratio were varied. As a result, the optimum amount of 80.2 % in biodiesel was obtained in a molar ratio of 40:1 (alcohol: oil) at 6 % weight of catalyst, at 100 °C for 5 h. Obtained results from physicochemical properties of the synthesized biodiesel were in good agreement with the standard validation method of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM6751).