Jichao Sun’s scientific contributions

For further resource utilization of solid waste steel slag and the reduction in biodiesel production costs, this study used steel slag as a carrier to synthesize a CaO-CeO2/slag solid base catalyst for the effective transesterification of palm oil into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). The synthesis involved a two-step impregnation of steel slag with nitrate of calcium and cerium and thermal activation at 800 °C for 180 min. Then, the catalysts’ textural, chemical, and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption properties were characterized. The catalytic activity depended highly on the ratio of Ca-Ce to steel slag mass; the CaO-CeO2/slag-0.8 catalyst showed outstanding performance. Characterization showed that the surface area and total basicity of the Ca-Ce/slag-0.8 catalyst were 3.66 m²/g and 1.289 mmol/g, respectively. The reactivity results showed that FAMEs obtained using 7 wt.% catalyst, 9:1 of methanol-to-palm-oil molar ratio, 180 min reaction duration, and 70 °C reaction temperature was optimum (i.e., 95.3% yield). In addition, the CaO-CeO2/slag-0.8 catalyst could be reused for at least three cycles, retaining 91.2% of FAMEs yield after n-hexane washing. Hence, the catalyst exhibits an excellent potential for cost-effective and environmentally friendly biodiesel production.