Recent Advances in Heterogeneous Catalysts for Biodiesel Production

Heterogeneous catalysts plays a significant role in the production of biodiesel as they have many advantages over other catalysts. Heterogeneous catalysis are noncorrosive, requires mild environmental conditions with fewer disposal problems. The easy separation of product from the liquid is mainly achieved by the reusability as the catalyst settles at faster rate. The use of this catalyst is widely used for biodiesel production due to higher activity, selectivity and longer lifetime of the catalyst. The heterogeneous catalyst reduces the overall production cost of biodiesel making it competitive with other petroleumbased diesel fuels. Recently, heterogeneous catalysts derived from nanomaterials have gained attention for biodiesel synthesis. Nanocatalyst characteristics, such as high catalytic activities and high specific surface area have helped overcome some limitations on heterogeneous catalysts for their applications in biodiesel production from biomass. This paper discusses the latest advances in research and development related with heterogeneous nanocatalysts. The use of nanocatalysts such as ferrous doped zinc oxide, copper doped zinc oxide and manganese doped zinc oxide for biodiesel production are discussed and compared.