Synthesis of Nanosized ZSM-5/AlKIT-6 Composite Catalysts for Biofuel Production from Non-edible Jatropha Curcas Oil.

Nanosized ZSM-5/AlKIT-6 composite catalyst which comprises of both mesoporous large pore 3D KIT-6 and coke resistant microporous ZSM-5 was synthesized using simple in-situ overgrowth method. AlKIT-6 were coated over nano ZSM-5 with different coating ratios (5%, 10% and 15%) and utilized for biofuel production from non-edible Jatropha curcas oil using catalytic cracking technology. The morphology, porosity, acidity and Si/Al ratio of the synthesized catalysts were characterized using analytical techniques like SEM, TEM, XRD, BET, FTIR, ICP-AES and TPD. SEM and TEM images clearly confirm that the composite catalyst is not a physical mixture but a core-shell architected arrangement. Fixed-bed reactor was used for conducting the cracking reaction at the optimized temperature of 400 °C with WHSV of 4.6 h and at atmospheric pressure. The composite catalyst with 10% coating gave the highest conversion (98%) and high yield of gasoline (69%). The biofuel properties were similar to that of conventional fuel. The characterization results and the catalytic results are correlated and discussed thoroughly.