Epoxidation and kinetic modeling of palm kernel oil via in‐situ performic acid mechanism using silicon dioxide as catalyst

Abstract The growing demand for sustainable and bio‐based materials has driven interest in replacing petroleum‐derived epoxides with renewable alternatives. In this study, palm kernel oil (PKO) was epoxidized using silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) as a heterogeneous catalyst through an in‐situ performic acid mechanism. The reaction was optimized at varying temperatures to evaluate its effect on oxirane formation. Experimental analysis revealed that 65°C produced the highest relative conversion to oxirane with minimal degradation, confirming it as the optimal reaction condition. FTIR spectra verified the successful transformation of CC bonds into oxirane rings. Kinetic modeling performed using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Simulated Annealing (SA) showed excellent correlation with experimental data, with the SA model providing the best fit ( R 2 = 0.9467). The novelty of this work lies in the use of SiO 2 as an eco‐friendly catalyst for PKO epoxidation and the establishment of a validated kinetic model. The findings contribute to advancing green epoxide synthesis for sustainable industrial applications.