Urea-nitrate combustion synthesis of MgO/MgAl2O4 nanocatalyst used in biodiesel production from sunflower oil: Influence of fuel ratio on catalytic properties and performance

As a base catalyst for biodiesel production, MgAl2O4 spinel was successfully synthesized by combustion method with MgO, as the active phase, dispersed on the catalyst surface. The nanocatalysts were characterized by XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET-BJH, TGA and FTIR analyses, so as to optimize the concentration of urea (as fuel) in the combustion synthesis. Analyzing the effect of fuel ratio on the combustion synthesized MgAl2O4, it was revealed that the synthesized base catalyst with a fuel ratio of 1.5 was of the best specifications for biodiesel production process. Future researches may investigate the catalyst reusability and mild reaction conditions, so as to achieve more economical production of biodiesel.378