Abstract:
A novel solid base catalyst, CaO/MgO/Fe
3O
4 with magnetism used for production of clean biodiesel, was prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, infrared spectrum and magnetism analysis. The catalytic activities of the fresh and the reused catalysts for the transesterification of peanut oil with methanol to produce biodiesel were investigated. The magnetic support of MgO/Fe
3O
4 with MgO loading of 5% was obtained by the magnetic matrix Fe
3O
4 dipped in Mg(Ac)
2 aqueous solution and then calcined at 600℃ in N
2. And CaO/MgO/Fe
3O
4 with CaO loading of 10% was prepared by MgO/Fe
3O
4 impregnated in Ca(Ac)
2 aqueous solution and further calcined at 700℃ in N
2. The particle of CaO/MgO/Fe
3O
4 was shell-core structure with the core mean diameter of 35nm. The results show that CaO/MgO/Fe
3O
4 has higher catalytic activity for transesterification reaction and could be separated easily from the reaction products in magnetic field. Both the conversion of peanut oil and recovery of the catalyst are above 90% under the conditions of atmospheric pressure, 65℃ for 2h, methanol/oil mol ratio of 12, and catalyst dosage (catalyst/oil) of 10%. The falling off of CaO from CaO/MgO/Fe
3O
4 during stirring reaction process was speculated as one of the reasons for the lower activity of the reused catalyst.