A major problem retarding the commercialization of biodiesel is the derivation of catalysts and feedstocks from high-cost materials. Hence, the following proposal is being put forward to mitigate this challenge: Extract and characterize castor oil, synthesize and characterize cocoa pod ash as the base catalyst, and apply the base catalyst for biodiesel production. Cocoa pods were heated at 600 °C for 35 min in a muffle furnace and the product sieved to obtain ash with uniform size distribution. The yield of castor oil extracted was 42 %, and the synthesized catalyst was capable of transesterifying the extracted oil. Castor oil was converted to biodiesel with cocoa pod ash as catalyst. A biodiesel yield of 88 % was obtained. The catalyst was characterized by various methods to confirm the presence of active sites. The physicochemical properties of the biodiesel product are consistent with literature values.

中文翻译：

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可可豆荚灰为催化剂蓖麻籽油生产生物柴油及其表征

阻碍生物柴油商业化的一个主要问题是从高成本材料中提取催化剂和原料。因此，提出以下建议来缓解这一挑战：提取和表征蓖麻油，合成和表征可可豆灰作为基础催化剂，并将基础催化剂应用于生物柴油生产。将可可豆荚在马弗炉中在 600 °C 下加热 35 分钟，然后对产品进行筛分以获得尺寸分布均匀的灰分。提取的蓖麻油收率为42%，合成的催化剂能够对提取的油进行酯交换反应。以可可豆荚灰为催化剂，将蓖麻油转化为生物柴油。获得了88%的生物柴油收率。通过各种方法对催化剂进行表征，以确认活性位点的存在。生物柴油产品的理化性质与文献值一致。