Biodiesel production from sunflower and cooking waste oil in the presence of magnetic perlite as an efficient nanocatalyst: a new platform in chemical engineering

In the present study, biodiesel was produced from sunflower and cooking waste oil through the transesterification reaction in the presence of magnetic perlite (pir/Fe3O4⋅PAA⋅KOH) as a new engineered nanocatalyst. The catalyst was prepared through the synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles by co-precipitation method, followed by polymerization of acrylamide and finally absorption of KOH on the porous structure of perlite. The incorporation of Fe3O4 nanoparticles into the perlite structure facilitate easy separation and recycling of the catalyst, and the polymerization of acrylamide create a stable matrix that prevents the release of iron oxide nanoparticles. In order to reach the optimal operational parameters for enhancing biodiesel production yield, the effect of four factors (methanol to oil ratio, temperature, time of the reaction and catalyst percentage) was investigated using the Taguchi method and Minitab software. The transesterification reaction was carried out using a 20:1 methanol/oil molar ratio in the presence of 9 wt% of pir/ Fe3O4⋅PAA⋅KOH at 65 °C and in 3 h. Finally, the yield of the produced biodiesel was calculated using the sub-peak area of two regions in nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The yield of biodiesel obtained from sunflower oil and cooking waste oil was 95.7% and 85.6%, respectively.