Bi-ZnO Heterogeneous Catalyst for Transesterification of Crude Jatropha Oil to Fatty Acid Methyl Ester

The transesterification of crude jatropha oil (CJO) to biodiesel using Bi-ZnO (bi-zinc oxide) as a solid catalyst was investigated. The catalyst was prepared by co-precipitation technique, calcined and characterized with XRD, TEM and the surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution of the developed catalyst were measured using BET method to give insights into its performance. It was established that sample loading of 2.0 wt.% Bi on ZnO could exhibit the highest catalytic activity when the transesterification reaction was carried out at reflux of methanol (65°C), with a 12:1 molar ratio of methanol to oil and a catalyst amount of 4 wt.%, the conversion of jatropha oil was 95%during 1 h of reaction. The utilization of the catalyst for transesterification of non-edible oil will reduce dependence on food-grade oil for industrial application. The catalyst when washed using methanol and oven dried at 80°C, can be reused for further tranesterification of the oil.