Conversion of Waste Cooking Oil into Biofuel through CeO₂-Based Oxide Catalysts (CeO₂-La₂O₃-NiO)

The CeO₂-based oxide catalysts (CeO₂-La₂O₃-NiO) were successfully synthesized with different concentrations of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). The resulting materials underwent characterization through various techniques, including TGA, XRD, FTIR, TEM, FESEM-EDX, and N₂ adsorption-desorption. XRD characterization revealed that the CeO₂ phase was a stable compound in all synthesized products. The semi-batch reactor was operated for 4 hours at 360 °C for the deoxidation reaction of used cooking oil using 1 wt% product catalyst. Deoxygenation occurred perfectly in the sample using BCOe-12.5 wt% MCC catalyst, resulting in 99% hydrocarbon selectivity and yielding 46% liquid product. These findings underscore the effectiveness of CeO₂-based oxides (CeO₂-La₂O₃-NiO) as promising catalysts for biofuel synthesis.