In-situ transesterification of Jatropha oil over an efficient solid alkali using low leaching component supported on industrial silica gel

• Solid-base with low leaching K2MgSiO4 component was gained by modified sol–gel route.
• In-situ esterification and transesterification were operated under mild conditions.
• Jatropha biodiesel with high yield of 96.8% was achieved.
• Catalytic reactivity was due to rodlike structure and strong alkalinity of catalyst.
• The eco-benign solid-base exhibited consistently high activity and reproducibility.

An efficient solid-base catalyst with low leaching K2MgSiO4 component on industrial silica gel was synthesized by a simple sol–gel method. The Jatropha biodiesel with high yield of 96.8% was produced by adopting in-situ esterification and transesterification reactions using the solid-base catalyst. The facile methanolysis process with excellent catalytic reactivity depends on the low leaching active component and surface base sites as well as easy dispersed particles in reaction medium. The eco-benign catalyst exhibited consistently high activity after being reused in five reaction runs.