Green Fuel Production from Sunflower Oil Using Nanocatalysts Based on Metal Oxides (SrO, La2O3, CaO, MgO, Li2O) Supported over Combustion‐synthesized Mg-spinel.

In this research a series of metal oxides (SrO, La 2 O 3 , CaO, MgO, and Li 2 O) were loaded over Mg-spinels via a hybrid combustion-impregnation method. Nanocatalysts were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDX, BET-BJH, and FTIR analyses. The XRD results showed the formation of pure crystalline phases in all of the nanocatalysts. Among all the nanocatalysts, the FESEM images and BET-BJH data displayed large pore diameters and high specific surface area for Li 2 O/MgAl 2 O 4. Also, the overview of 3D surface analysis demonstrated the rough surface for this nanocatalyst, in which the RMS parameter was evaluated to be 16.5 nm. The as-prepared nanocatalysts were successfully employed in green biodiesel production from sunflower oil (MeOH/Oil = 12 molar, catalyst loading = 5 wt%, temperature = 110 °C and time = 3 h). The superior activity of about 98% was obtained with Li 2 O/MgAl 2 O 4. The other remarkable outcome of this research was the reusability of Li 2 O/MgAl 2 O 4 through 6 reaction cycles with fresh feed in the same operational conditions. [Display omitted] • Successful synthesis of MgAl 2 O 4 spinel by solution combustion method. • Successful biodiesel production by SrO, La 2 O 3 , CaO, MgO and Li 2 O active phases. • Improved catalytic performance by applying Li 2 O as nanocatalyst active phase. • Confirmation of high reusability of Li 2 O/MgAl 2 O 4 in biodiesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]