Catalytic transformation of Brassica nigra oil into biodiesel using in-house engineered green catalyst: Development and characterization

This work reports the fabrication and catalytic exploitation of in-house engineered green composite (CaO/W-Mo) having catalytic potentialities with the aid of a wet-impregnation route. The in-house engineered CaO/W-Mo hybrid composite was fully characterized using FT-IR (Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy), PXRD (powder X-ray diffraction), and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The low concentration, i.e., 0.1–0.5% of hybrid composite (CaO/W-Mo), successfully converts the Brassica nigra oil into biodiesel through one-step transesterification reaction. The catalytic conversion was confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR (1H-nuclear magnetic resonance), and GC–MS (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) analyses. Various fuel properties were determined using the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) method. The optimization of transesterification efficiency was investigated by changing the different factors, such as catalyst concentration, oil to methanol ratio, and reaction period. The experimental results revealed that the highly economical catalyst loading (0.5%) gives transesterification efficiency up to 50% under optimized reaction conditions with an oil-to-methanol ratio 1:12 and reaction temperature 60 °C. This shows that the hybrid composite as a catalyst at minimum concentration could be highly beneficial, economical, and eco-friendly for the industrial-scale production of bioenergy.