Biomass-incorporated KNO3-C/γ-Al2O3 bifunctional catalyst for efficient biodiesel production

Biodiesel has gained attention as a promising renewable and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, which necessitated the development of an effective and eco-friendly catalyst for transesterification processes. Herein, this research reported the development of a highly efficient bifunctional catalyst by incorporating carbon from oil palm leaves (OPLs) into KNO3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst, synthesized through a facile method, to concurrently catalyze the waste cooking oil (WCO) transesterification and free fatty acids (FFAs) esterification in a one-pot reaction. Proposed Box-Behnken Design (BBD) model's ideal conditions, experimentally yielded an average of 93.74 % biodiesel yield. Meanwhile, analysis revealed that the catalyst with 30 wt% KNO3 loadings and 1.0 g oil palm leaves dosage (OPLD), calcined at 700 °C, has a BET surface area of 46.93 m2/g and exhibited the presence of K2O, K2O2 and K2C2 active species on the catalyst surface. In addition to exhibiting high total basicity and acidity of 2.9 mmol/g and 2.1 mmol/g, respectively, environmental studies suggested this catalyst generated less waste, highlighting its significant potential of being used for efficient biodiesel production. Therefore, present research introduces a new approach for synthesizing a fruitful and ecofriendly bifunctional catalyst to attain one-pot biodiesel production from low-grade oils.