LAUSR

Biodiesel, as one of the alternative biofuels replacing the common fossil fuels, is prepared by transesterification of oils and fats. Commonly, the reaction is catalysed by either acidic or basic catalysts. The availability of the active sites to large triglyceride molecules is the key factor of the heterogeneous catalysts. The use of carbon fibres during the synthesis of Mg/Fe layered double hydroxides results in the formation of macropores during the calcination. The amount of carbon fibres showed an important effect on the textural properties of the resulting mixed oxides. The texture was determined by N2-adsorption and Hg-porosity. The catalyst activity in the studied reaction was examined by determination of ester amount by gas chromatography and the activity was compared with unmodified mixed oxides. The highest ester yield (40 wt.%) was achieved by adding 1 wt.% of carbon fibres to the catalyst with the largest size of macropores.