Production of biodiesel over ZnO-TiO₂ bifunctional oxide catalyst supported on natural zeolite

In this paper, biodiesel is produced from palm oil and methanol via the transesterification process over the heterogeneous catalyst. The metal oxide ZnO-TiO₂ was impregnated into natural zeolite over the dry impregnation method. The ZnO-TiO₂/NZ catalyst was prepared over the dry impregnation method. The catalysts' characteristic was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The biodiesel was analyzed by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed a functional group of methyl ester (C=O, carbonyl group) at 1744.51 cm^-1. The components of methyl ester such as hexadecanoic acid methyl ester (C₁₇), cis-9-heptadecanoic acid methyl ester (C₁₈), oleic acid methyl ester (C₁₉), are present in the biodiesel with the percent area of 0.05%, 0.08%, 0.63%, 7.06%, 16.3%, respectively, over ZnO-TiO₂/NZ catalyst with a metal ratio of 1:1. This catalyst was successful in the transesterification of palm oil to produce biodiesel.