Recent years have seen an increase in research on biodiesel, an environmentally benign and renewable fuel alternative for traditional fossil fuels. Biodiesel might become more cost-effective and competitive with diesel if a solid heterogeneous catalyst is used in its production. One way to make biodiesel more affordable and competitive with diesel is to employ a solid heterogeneous catalyst in its manufacturing. Based on X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the researchers in this study proved their hypothesis that iron oxide core-shell nanoparticles were generated during the green synthesis of iron-based nanoparticles (FeNPs) from Camellia Sinensis leaves. The fabrication of spherical iron nanoparticles was successfully confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As a heterogeneous catalyst, the synthesised catalyst has shown potential in facilitating the conversion of algae oil into biodiesel. With the optimal parameters (0.5 weight percent catalytic load, 1:6 oil-methanol ratio, 60 °C reaction temperature, and 1 h and 30 min reaction duration), a 93.33% yield was attained. This may be due to its acid-base property, chemical stability, stronger metal support interaction. Furthermore, the catalyst was employed for transesterification reactions five times after regeneration with n-hexane washing followed by calcination at 650 °C for 3 h.
Keywords: Camellia sinensis leaves; Biodiesel; Kinetics; Optimization; Transesterification.
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