Alkali Hydrothermal Synthesis of Na0.1Ca0.9TiO3 Nanorods as Heterogeneous Catalyst for Transesterification of Camelina Sativa Oil to Biodiesel

Orthorhombic perovskite Na_0.1Ca_0.9TiO₃ nanorods were synthesized at low calcination temperature via alkali hydrothermal synthesis. The synthesized nanorods exhibits a square based prism morphology, with a width and length of 200–500 nm and 2–3 μm respectively. The structural, textural and basic characteristics of the catalyst were examined by SEM, TEM, XRD and BET. The growth direction of the nanorods was confirmed to be along the long symmetry 110] zone axis and the exterior surfaces are found to be polar (110) and (002) with either Ti or Ca exposed in those facets. The catalytic activity of the nanorods was investigated for the transesterification of the low-input Camelina Sativa oil and methanol to give the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Effects of important reaction parameters such as methanol to oil molar ratio, catalyst dosage, reaction temperature and reaction time on oil conversion were examined. Optimized biodiesel yield of 93 % was achieved with catalyst dosage of 6 % w/w, methanol to oil molar ratio of 36:1 at reaction temperature of 60 °C for 8 h.