Production of Biodiesel by Methanolysis of Soybean oil Over Basic Polymeric Catalytic Membranes

Abstract

AbstractPolymeric catalytic membranes were prepared in two different ways for the transesterification of soybean oil. In a first approach 1,5,7-Triazabicyclo [4.4.0] dec-5-ane (TBD) was anchored to a PVA membrane using epichlorohydrin as linking agent. Another attempt was to synthetize poly(N-vinylguanidine) avoiding the need of anchoring the TBD in a polymeric matrix. Catalytic runs were performed in jacket batch reactors and even though the results are still preliminary, they appeared to be promising. The catalysts were characterized by thickness measurements, swelling degree and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)