Engineered nanoporous materials mediated heterogeneous catalysts and their implications in biodiesel production

World’s energy needs are majorly dependent on the fossil fuels, including petrochemical sources and coal. The alternate of these fuels include hydro and nuclear powers. However, all these resources are finite and current rate of consumption indicates the shortening of the fuels and energy in the near future. Diesel plays a remarkable role in the economy of the developing and developed countries in industry and other sectors being a basic fuel used in transportation. The increasing demand of alternate energy based on renewable resources and pollution-free production is a major concern these days for environmentalists. Biodiesel, in this regard is set to be the best entrant to acquire the desired alternative of conventional fuels. The production of biodiesel is carried out through transesterification reaction using edible oil feedstocks, which is not feasible for developing countries. Hence, utilization of low-grade feedstocks for biodiesel production is the new clinch for the developing countries. In general, the transesterification reaction is mediated by catalysts and hence, design of an effective catalyst is the key to produce efficient and commercially viable biodiesel. In this direction, it is necessary to understand the material chemistry of catalysts and mechanism of the catalytic transesterification reaction. This review enlightens the basics of transesterification, role of various process parameters and factors affecting biodiesel production from different feedstocks. In this review we have discussed various nanoporous heterogeneous catalysts investigated for biodiesel production and mainly focused on the mechanism involved in transesterification using heterogeneous catalysts.