Lanthanum phosphate foam as novel heterogeneous nanocatalyst for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil

In this study, the potential of LaPO4 foam as a heterogeneous catalyst to produce biodiesel from highly acidic waste cooking oil (WCO) was investigated. The LaPO4 supported nickel foam was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray mapping analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). In addition, the effect of different parameters such as the molar ratio of feedstock to methanol, contact time and the reaction temperature. Under the study conditions, with methanol to oil molar ratio of 5:1, and a reaction temperature of 90 degrees C, 91% FAME yield was ob-tained within 120 min with 2.5 wt % of LaPO4. The obtained results demonstrated that LaPO4 foam can be used effectively as a heterogeneous catalyst with superior catalytic efficiency (>90%) with easy separa-tion and excellent stability. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that LaPO4 foam can be effectively used as a heterogeneous catalyst for producing biodiesel with high catalytic efficiency and stability.