12-Tungstophosphoric acid supported on mesoporous molecular material: synthesis, characterization and performance in biodiesel production

12-Tungstophosphoric acid (TPA) supported on mesoporous molecular material (Mobile Composition of Matter – MCM-48) was synthesized, characterized and its use as a heterogeneous catalyst was explored for biodiesel production via oleic acid esterification with methanol. The effect of various reaction parameters such as molar ratio, mass of catalyst, reaction time and reaction temperature was evaluated. The catalyst shows excellent activity (95% conversion) towards biodiesel production. The kinetic study revealed that the esterification of oleic acid follows the first order rate law with activation energy of 40.3 kJ mol−1. The catalyst was recyclable after simple regeneration without significant loss in conversion. The excellent catalytic activity over the present catalyst was extended to transesterification reaction for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil and jatropha oil, as low cost feedstock. The physicochemical properties of the produced biodiesel were further studied and the results show that the obtained properties are comparable with the ASTM specifications. Scale up procedure shows excellent conversions. A single step production procedure was also suggested for biodiesel production.