Ultrasound-assisted biodiesel production by a novel composite of Fe(III)-based MOF and phosphotangestic acid as efficient and reusable catalyst.

In this work, esterification of oleic acid by various alcohols is achieved with high yields under ultrasonic irradiation. This reaction performed with a novel heterogeneous catalyst that fabricated by heteropoly acid and Fe(III)-based MOF, namely MIL-53 (Fe). Syntheses of MIL-53 and encapsulation process carry out by ultrasound irradiation at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. The prepared composite was characterized by various techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, SEM, BET and ICP that demonstrate excellent catalytic activities, while being highly convenient to synthesize. The obtained results revealed that ultrasound irradiation could be used for the appropriate and rapid biodiesel production.