Biodiesel Production Using Lithium Metasilicate Synthesized from Non-Conventional Sources.

A facile and versatile process to produce lithium metasilicate (LiSiO) from non-conventional silicon sources (two different sand sources from the central area of México) was developed. The synthesis protocol based on a solid-state reaction followed by a hydrothermal treatment resulted in highly pure lithium metasilicate, as corroborated by XRD, SEM-EDS, and XPS analysis. Furthermore, lithium metasilicate was used as a heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production from soybean oil, where conversion yields were compared according to the silicon source used (based on chemical purity, stability, and yield efficiency).