<![CDATA[Lapindo mud (LM) was explored as a low-cost base material for nanocatalyst development aimed at converting waste cooking oil (WCO) into biodiesel. This study evaluates the synthesis and characterization of K₂O/LM nanocatalysts through the impregnation of K₂CO₃ with variations of 10%, 20%, and 30% followed by calcination at 550 °C for 3 h and particle size reduction via ball milling. The catalysts were characterized using XRF, XRD, and PSA. XRF analysis confirmed a significant increase in K₂O content from 2.51% in Lapindo Mud to 13.5%, 23.7%, and 36.4% after impregnation. The presence of characteristic K₂O peaks in XRD patterns further verified successful incorporation of active species. PSA results showed average particle sizes of 556.8 nm for LM and 535.9 nm for the K₂O(30)/LM catalyst. Transesterification was carried out at 60 °C for 2 h using a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 9:1 and 4 wt% catalyst. GC–MS analysis revealed that biodiesel produced using LM catalyst contained 99.28% methyl esters, whereas the K₂O(30)/LM catalyst yielded 19.74% methyl esters. The K2O/LM catalyst exhibited relatively low performance in the transesterification of WCO, which is attributed to the absence of a prior calcination step of the lapindo mud before impregnation.]]>
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