Esterification of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate Using a Sulfonated Mesoporous CuO‐ZnO Mixed Metal Oxide Catalyst

A nano-crystalline mesoporous CuO-ZnO hollow sphere was successfully fabricated through the hydrothermal method. The nanocomposite was formed in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a dispersant and D-glucose as a template. The mesoporous CuO-ZnO catalyst was further functionalised with benzene-sulphonic acid to catalyze the esterification of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD). The thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer Emmet and Teller (BET), ammonia temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies were undertaken to evaluate the physicochemical, textural, structural, and thermal properties of the mesoporous CuO/ZnO mixed oxide catalysts. The modified mesoporous catalyst possessed unique textural properties with the specific surface area of 459.33 m2g–1, average pore diameter of 2.73 nm, total specific pore volume of 0.33 cm3 g–1, and total acid density of 2.35 mmolg–1. The mixed metal oxide with the Cu:Zn atomic ratio of 1.0 exhibited the best catalytic activity through the esterification of the PFAD with the FAME yield of 96.14%. The highest yield was achieved under optimum reaction conditions with the methanol to oil molar ratio of 9:1, catalyst concentration of 1.5 wt.%, reaction temperature of 90°C, and reaction time of 90 min.

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