Mg-Al hydrotalcite as solid base catalyst for biodiesel production from pongamia oil

Abstract

This study presents preparation, characterization and use of Mg-Al hydrotalcite as a catalyst for transesterification of pongamia oil and optimization of transesterification conditions. Mg-Al hydrotalcite was characterized by powder X–ray diffraction (XRD), infra red spectroscopy (FT–IR), thermal studies (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microcopy (SEM) techniques. Methanol and catalyst (6:1) and 65°C temperature gave a maximum biodiesel conversion (90.8%). Transesterification of pongamia oil using Mg-Al hydrotalcite was compared with conventional base catalyst.