Characterization of Titanium supported Magnesium as solid base catalyst for biodiesel production

Biodiesel is one of the renewable resources petroleum-based fuels (diesel). Biodiesel is produce from chemical reaction triglycerides of vegetable oils and animal fats with alcohols in the presence of the catalyst. In this research, titanium supported magnesium (MgO/Ti02) as solid base catalyst was studied for biodiesel production. Titanium supported magnesium (MgO/Ti02) was synthesized using impregnation method with three different calcination temperatures which are 500 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C. These three samples were characterized using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The characterization was analysed to determine the physical and surface properties of the catalyst which are surface analyser and surface morphology. Moreover, calcination temperature used to identify the dispersion between the catalyst and support and the catalytic activity performance. The larger the crystallite size lead to high catalytic activity for biodiesel production. In conclusion, it can be said that the MgO/TiO2 catalyst provides good potentials for transesterification reaction in biodiesel production due to its good catalytic properties and performance.