Microwave-Assisted Combustion Design of Magnetic Mg-Fe Spinel for MgO-Based Nanocatalyst Used in Biodiesel Production: Influence of Heating-Approach and Fuel Ratio

Abstract Magnetic MgO/MgFe 2 O 4 nanocatalysts synthesized by microwave-assisted combustion method by using various fuel ratios and employed in the production of biodiesel. To evaluate the influence of microwave heating, its results were compared to those of conventional furnace. MgO was dispersed on all the samples using simple and cost-effective impregnation method. Characterizations of the magnetic spinel nanocatalysts were performed via XRD, FESEM, SPSD, BET-BJH, FTIR, TG and EDX analyses. Accordingly, the sample synthesized by microwave irradiation with a fuel ratio of 1.5 exhibited the largest effective area and pore volume and appropriate pore size for transesterification reaction with coarse molecules.