The ferric-manganese doped sulfated zirconia nanoparticle solid acid catalyst was prepared through the impregnation reaction followed by calcination at 600 degrees C for 3 h. The characterization was performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Temperature programed desorption of NH3 (TPD-NH3/CO2), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), Brunner-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurement, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, the dependence of the biodiesel yield on the reaction variables, such as reaction temperatures, catalyst loading, as well as the molar ratio of methanol/oil and reusability, were also investigated. The catalyst was reused six times without loss in its activity with the maximum yield of 96.5 +/- 0.02% achieved under the optimized conditions of the reaction temperature of 180 degrees C; stirring speed of 600 rpm, 1: 20 M ratio of oil to alcohol and 3 wt/wt% catalyst loading. Additionally, the fuel properties of producing biodiesel from waste cooking oil were investigated and compared with those of the American and European standards. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.