Biodiesel production from Jatropha Curcas oil using strontium-doped CaO/MgO catalyst

The synthesis of methyl ester (ME) as biodiesel from Jatropha oil and MeOH was investigated using CaO/MgO doped with strontium catalyst (Sr2+- CaO/MgO). This catalyst was prepared by co-precipitation method and compared with its uni-or bi-corresponding component catalysts in terms of physical properties and catalytic activities. The results indicated that the Sr2+ dopant played a key role in enhancing the catalytic performance of CaO and MgO components while MgO reduced the overall particle size and improved the catalyst reusability. The synthesized Sr2+-CaO/MgO catalyst was also studied at various transesterification conditions to determine the optimal conditions. The maximum ME content of 99.6% was obtained at 65 degrees C for 2 h and the MeOH-to-oil molar ratio of 9: 1 with the catalyst amount of 5 wt%. At these conditions, the Sr2+- CaO/MgO catalyst could be reused up to four times while maintaining high activity with the ME content higher than 90%.