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Nanocatalyst for Transesterification of Fatty Acids into Biodiesel

G Bhaskar, R Aishwarya

Abstract


Global fuel consumption is increasing exponentially due to the ever increase in rate of industrial development. The continued usage of fossil fuels leads to severe environmental concerns and poses threat to the entire mankind. Biodiesel has gained more attention due to the rapid exhaustion of the fossil fuels and increase in price of conventional petroleum products. Transesterification of fatty acids from animal fat, vegetable oils, waste cooking oil, algae and fungi oil in the presence of catalyst leads to the formation of biodiesel. The current biodiesel production does not meet the world demand. Heterogeneous catalysts have attained commercial importance because of their better surface characteristics for improved catalytic activity. Heterogeneous catalysts are easily separated, regenerated and reused. Nanoparticles are used as efficient catalyst in various chemical and bioprocesses for the production of industrial products. Nanocatalyst application has brought a great revolution in the field of sustainable energy as it involves green chemistry in various processes. Nanocatalyst tends to improve the efficiency of transesterification reaction with greater stability and solve various bottleneck issues in the production of biodiesel. Nanocatalyst has brought a huge transformation in the generation of biofuels with mild operating conditions and less consumption of energy. Nanocatalyst has established a wide platform for the researchers to produce the third generation fuels with less environmental impact around the universe. Keywords: Nanocatalyst, transesterification, biofuels, biodiesel, environmental impact

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