Synthesis and determination of biodiesel: An experiment for high school chemistry laboratory

摘要

Biodiesel has gained attention in recent years as a renewable and environmentally friendly fuel source. A laboratory experiment designed for high school students is described to study biodiesel production. Under optimum conditions, the time of running the reaction of biodiesel synthesis was less than a half-hour. Moreover, based on the difference in density and solubility of reactants and products in the transesterification, one visualizing method of detection of biodiesel product was suggested. The results demonstrated that the visualizing method was simple, quick, and effective in determining whether biodiesel was produced. This proposed experiment is typically completed in less than two one-hour laboratory periods, which makes it suitable for a high school chemistry laboratory.