Acid activated montmorillonite as catalysts in methyl esterification reactions of lauric acid

The catalytic activity of acid activated montmorillonite in the esterification of free fatty acids (FFA) is reported. Standard Montmorillonite (MMT) type STx-1 provided by the Clay Mineral Society repository was activated using phosphoric, nitric and sulphuric acids under different conditions and the resulting materials were characterized and evaluated as catalysts in the methyl esterification of lauric acid. Blank reactions carried out in the absence of any added catalyst presented conversions of 32.64, 69.79 and 79.23%, for alcohol:lauric acid molar ratios of 60:1, 12:1 and 6:1, respectively. In the presence of the untreated clay and using molar ratios of 12:1 and 6:1 with 12% of catalyst, conversions of 70.92 and 82.30% were obtained, respectively. For the acid activated clays, conversions up to 93.08% of lauric acid to methyl laurate were obtained, much higher than those observed for the thermal conversion or using untreated montmorillonite. Relative good correlations were observed between the catalytic activity and the development of acid sites and textural properties of the resulting materials. Therefore, a simple acid activation was able to improve the catalytic activity and produce clay catalysts that are environmental friendly, cost effective, noncorrosive and reusable.