Preparation of Supported Nanosized Sulfated Zirconia by Strontia and Assessment of Its Activities in the Esterification of Oleic Acid

H. Nayebzadeh, N. Saghatoleslami, A. Maskooki and B. R. Vahid

Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine a new nanocatalyst of SrO/S-ZrO2 in esterification reaction and the optimum value of strontia loading over the sulfated zirconia. The sulfated zirconia was supported with different molar ratios of strontia in the range of 0.0–0.30, using the solvent-free method. The samples were characterized using XRD, FT-IR, BET and TEM analysis and their activity were investigated in esterification reaction of oleic acid. The findings of this study revealed that 25 mol % SrO/S-ZrO2 had the highest yield in the esterification reaction. It was also concluded that strontia-supported sulfated zirconia could improve the low reusability of the catalyst. Furthermore, 95 % conversion was also obtained at optimized conditions (i.e., 100 °C, 2 wt. % of catalyst, 6:1 molar ratio of methanol/oleic acid and for a period of 30 minutes).

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Keywords
esterification, sulfated zirconia, strontia, solvent-free method