Open Access

ARTICLE

A Novel Magnetic Carbon Based Catalyst Synthesized from Reed Straw and Electric Furnace Dust for Biodiesel Production

Fuping Wang¹, Lele Kang¹, Rui Ji¹, Tianji Liu¹, Qing Yu¹, Di Gao¹, Xiaoman Wang¹, Yitong Wang^1,*, Jie Yang^2,*

1 College of Metallurgy and Energy, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, 063210, China
2 Qian’an College, North China University of Science and Technology, Qian’an, 064400, China

* Corresponding Authors: Yitong Wang. Email: ; Jie Yang. Email:

(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Biochar Based Materials for a Green Future)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2022, 10(8), 2099-2115. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2022.018806

Received 28 August 2021; Accepted 21 October 2021; Issue published 25 April 2022

Abstract

In the era of serious greenhouse gas emission and energy shortage, it is necessary to use solid waste to prepare new renewable materials. In this work, the potential application of reed straw and electric furnace dust was explored. Firstly, magnetic carbon carrier (EFD&C) was prepared by high temperature calcination, and then magnetic carbon catalyst (SM@EFD&C) was prepared by activation of sodium methoxide. The catalyst was used to prepare biodiesel by transesterification reaction to test its activity and stability. Reed biochar, EFD&C and SM@EFD&C were detected by Diffraction of X-rays (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Inductively coupled plasma (ICP), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Temperature programmed desorption of CO₂ (CO₂-TPD) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTG). The results showed that SM@EFD&C catalyst had some characteristics including porous structure, easy adsorption and better magnetism. Under the reaction conditions of 65°C for 2 h with 6 wt% catalyst and methanol/oil molar ratio of 15:1, the biodiesel yields from reed biochar and EFD&C were only 4.88 wt% and 0.03 wt%, respectively, while the yield from SM@EFD&C catalyst reached 93.14 wt% (89.84 wt% after 7 cycles) under the same conditions, which proved that it had good catalytic activity and stability when used in biodiesel production. This study is of great significance of carbon dioxide emission reduction and environmental protection.

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