DICATIONIC ACIDIC IONIC LIQUIDS AS CATALYSTS FOR ESTERIFICATION REACTION BY CONVENTIONAL AND ULTRASONICASSISTED TECHNIQUES

Catalyst development for biodiesel production is an important area of interest as the
current production uses corrosive acid catalyst and requires long reaction time. This
study aims to develop an alternative environmental-friendly acid catalyst for
esterification reaction through ultrasonic-assisted (US) and mechanical stirring (MS)
reaction techniques, and to study their reaction kinetic. A new series of SO3Hfunctionalized
dicationic ionic liquids (DILs) were synthesized. Monocationic
ammonium based ILs (MILs) and several conventional acids were also prepared as
performance reference. Their acidity values were evaluated through computational,
Hammett and pH acidity methods, where DILs showed higher acidity compared to
MILs and acids. Similarly, DILs-catalyzed reaction through both MS and US
techniques results to better FAME production than that of MILs and acids. The reaction
conditions were optimized separately under both MS and US with the aid of Response
Surface Methodology.