Nickel Supported on MIL-96(Al) as an Efficient Catalyst for Biodiesel and Green Diesel Production from Crude Palm Oil

Abstract

In this study, a new class of heterogeneous catalyst in the form of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely Material of Institute Lavoisier-96(Al), which is called MIL-96(Al), was employed for the production of biodiesel and green diesel. The synthesis of MIL-96(Al) was conducted via a hydrothermal method at 210 °C for 4 hours with dimethylformamide (DMF) as an assisting agent. The Ni was loaded into MIL-96(Al) via incipient wetness impregnation method with variations 3, 5, and 10 wt.% to form Ni/MIL-96(Al). Based on X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the obtained material has good crystallinity with characteristic peaks observed at 2? = 5.8°; 7.8°, and 9.1°. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis demonstrated an essential shift from 1715 cm-1 to 1666 cm-1, indicating the coordination of the carboxylate group with Al3+ metal ions. Moreover, MIL-96(Al) is stable up to 390 °C according to the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Based on structural and morphological analysis (using XRD, FTIR, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)), the loading of Ni into MIL-96(Al) does not change the basic structure of MIL-96(Al). However, the pore diameter of MIL-96(Al) decreased from 5.7 nm to 1.4 nm after the Ni was embedded in the structure. The largest surface area was obtained from 10% Ni/MIL-96(Al) (up to 595.5 m2/g). The catalytic test exhibits that 3% Ni/MIL-96(Al) could attain an optimum yield of up to 85.24% of biodiesel, while in the case of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction, the optimum catalyst shown by 10% Ni/MIL-96(Al) with conversion and selectivity of C16 up to 90.70% and 55.22%, respectively.

Keywords

• biodiesel
• green diesel
• hydrodeoxygenation
• ni/mil-96(al)
• trans-esterification