Palygorskite was used as a catalyst support for the transesterification reaction.
The K2CO3-supported palygorskite catalysts exhibited good catalytic performance.
The high biodiesel yield obtained was owing to the high basicity of catalyst.
The main contributions to the basicity of catalyst were K2O and Al–O–K groups.
A little deactivation of catalyst was mainly due to the leaching of K+ ions.