Facile Preparation of Bimetallic MOF-derived Supported Tungstophosphoric Acid Composites for Biodiesel Production

In this work, the novel TPA@C-NiZr-MOF catalyst is synthesized by the impregnation of tungstophosphoric acid (TPA) on the NiZr-based metal-organic framework (NiZr-MOF) followed by calcination up to 300 °C. The as-prepared catalyst materials were structurally, morphologically, and texturally characterized by XRD, FTIR, temperature programmed desorption of NH3 ( TPD-NH3 ), N2 physisorption, SEM, TEM, and XPS. The prepared catalyst can be used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production from oleic acid (OA) with methanol. The results indicated that, in comparison to TPA@NiZr-MOF, the TPA@C-NiZr-MOF catalyst calcined at 300 °C exhibits excellent catalytic performance probably owing to the synergistic effect between TPA and metal oxide skeletons, high acidity, as well as larger surface area and pore size. Additionally, the TPA@C-NiZr-MOF catalyst can be reused in up to six cycles with an acceptable conversion. This study showed that the bimetallic MOF-derived composite materials can be used as an alternative potential heterogeneous catalyst toward biorefinery applications.