In this work, the optimal percentage of alumina loading on sulfated zirconia by solvent-free method was investigated and its reusability was assessed. To obtain these objectives, sulfated zirconia was supported with different molar percentage of aluminum sulfate octadecahydrate (AlSH) in the range of 15 to 30 and was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, BET surface area, TEM analysis and NaOH titration. Furthermore, the catalyst activity was determined by esterification reaction of oleic acid. The results of this study revealed that sulfated zirconia supported nano-catalyst with 25 mol.% of AlSH has the best catalytic properties. Furthermore, it was shown that the catalyst enhances the esterification reaction conditions as it converts 96 % of oleic acid to its methyl ester at 90 oC where 2 wt.% of catalyst and 6 molar ratio of methanol/oleic acid for a period of 30 minutes were utilized. Furthermore, higher reusability in comparison with the non-promoted sulfated zirconia was also observed.

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