In summary, a novel and efficient CaO-based catalyst was synthesized
by using the abalone shell as a precursor and ethanol as a modification
agent for biodiesel production. After being treated by ethanol at
three different temperatures, the maximal FAME yields for the M-CaO
catalysts were 94.4%, 96.2% and 92.9%, respectively (U-CaO, 87.5%).
The superior performance of catalyst was due to the high specific basicity,
high surface area and porosity, and small crystalline size. Besides,
the M-CaO catalysts exhibited a much better reusability compared to
the U-CaO catalyst. Hopefully, this low-cost solid base catalyst may be
potentially demonstrated for other transesterification reactions