Generally, homogeneous base/acid catalysts are used in commercial
biodiesel production via transesterification process. The
traditional homogeneous catalysts (base or acid) show a very good
catalytic activity in biodiesel production [6]. However, the separation
of these catalysts from biodiesel requires washing with water
which in turn results in loss of fatty acid alkyl esters (FAAE), energy
consumption, and generates large amounts of waste water [7,8].
Moreover, these catalysts cause reactor corrosion and are difficult
to recover, thus increases the overall biodiesel production cost.