Ahmad Suseno, Gunawan Gunawan, Eli Dwi Astuti, Roni Adi Wijaya
The increasing global energy demand and the depletion of fossil fuel reserves underscore the urgent need for sustainable alternatives. Oleic acid, a major component of palm oil, offers a promising route for biofuel production via catalytic hydrocracking, owing to its long hydrocarbon chain structure. This study reports the synthesis of mesoporous silica catalyst (MSC) from NaHCO3 and TEOS precursors, which was then modified with a Ni–Cu bimetallic to enhance the hydrocracking of oleic acid to produce sustainable biofuels. Comprehensive catalyst characterization revealed the presence of Si–O–Si and metal-oxygen (Ni–O dan Cu–O) functional groups (FTIR), an amorphous silica structure, nanocrystal size and elemental composition (Ni⁰ and Cu⁰), uniform porosity (average pore radius is ∼70 Å), and high surface acidity (5.3 and 2.85 mmol/g) with both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites. The catalytic performance was evaluated under varying reaction conditions. A significant improvement in conversion efficiency was observed, increasing from 73.6 % with non-bimetallic silica to 97.26 % with Ni–Cu/MSC at optimal conditions (450°C, 180 min), as determined by GC-MS. Kinetic studies demonstrated that the hydrocracking followed a first-order reaction model, indicating that Ni–Cu synergistically enhances the hydrogenation process and selective C–C bond cleavage in the unsaturated oleic acid structure. Mechanistic insights suggest that the dual-metal active sites promote both hydrogen activation and oleic acid adsorption, facilitating efficient hydrocracking. These findings position Ni–Cu/MSC as a highly effective and sustainable catalyst system for biofuel production. © 2025 The Authors
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Diponegoro University, Semarang, 50271, Indonesia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta Timur, 13220, Indonesia
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