One-Step Synthesis of CaO-ZnO Efficient Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

TOLEDO ARANA JAVIER; TORRES JUAN; ACEVEDO DIEGO; ILLANES CRISTIAN; OCHOA NELIO; PAGLIERO CECILIA

International Journal of Chemical Engineering

Hindawi

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2019 vol. 2019 p. 1 - 7

1687-806X

Biodieselisthebestcandidateforfueloilreplacement,andtoobtainit,heterogeneouscatalystsofferlargeadvantages:theycanbe separatedfromtheproductandreused.Thisworkreviewsanovelone-stepsynthesisofCaO-ZnOcatalyticparticlessuitablefor biodiesel production. The catalyst is synthesized using an original simple method that involves mixing of ZnO with CaCO3 and subsequent calcination. The CaO-ZnO microparticles obtained present an average size of 2μm. This material shows the characteristiccrystallographiccubicstructureofCaOandthehexagonalphaseofZnO.Thetemperature-programmedreduction experiment evidences an interaction between CaO and ZnO. Moreover, the infrared spectroscopy shows typical bands of these compounds. The catalyst shows high biodiesel yield, up to 73% in the first cycle and 64% in the second one. In this work, the synthesis of an efficient CaO-ZnO catalyst with a huge potential is revealed, which could be an economic alternative to produce biodiesel.