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Paper

Green Chem., 2009, 11, 1862 - 1866, DOI: 10.1039/b916263c

Preparation of Na doped SiO2 solid catalysts by the sol-gel method for the production of biodiesel from jatropha oil

Emil Akbar, Narayanan Binitha, Zahira Yaakob, Siti Kartom Kamarudin and Jumat Salimon

A new solid catalyst, Na/SiO2, which have come in demand recently due to environmental concerns is prepared using the sol gel method by transesterification of jatropha oil with methanol to produce a biodiesel fatty acid methyl ester. Na/SiO2 with a loading of 50:50 molar ratio Na/Si, calcined at 600 °C exhibited the best catalytic activity for the reaction. The conversion of vegetable oil is found to be 99%. The optimum reaction conditions are achieved at the reflux temperature of methanol (65 °C), with a 1:15 molar ratio of methanol to oil and a catalyst amount of 6 wt%. The catalyst showed high activity under mild conditions and at a relatively short reaction time of 45 min.

Graphical abstract image for this article (ID: b916263c)