Oxide Catalysts for Glycerol Transformation into Diglycerides

What is it about?

Glycerol oligomerization in a liquid phase was studied over the acid-base bifunctional catalysts for the following oxides: TiO2, ZrO2, CeO2, binary CeO2–ZrO2 systems, and purely basic oxide MgO. The phase composition and surface area have been estimated by XRD and BET. The acid and basic properties of catalysts have been characterized using the quasi-equilibrium thermal desorption (QE-TD) of NH3 (acidity) and CO2 (basicity). Attenuated total reflectance FTIR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy provided qualitative insights into the interactions in the oxide-glycerol systems. A comparison of catalytic and acid-base properties of the oxide systems showed that the reaction requires the presence of both acid and base sites in the catalyst. Moreover, the strength of base sites should exceed the strength of acid sites.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The correlation between the rate of diglycerides formation and the ratio between acid and base strength has been found. A balance of acidic and basic characteristics is necessary for an effective catalyst. Moreover, the strength of the basic sites should be higher than the strength of acid sites.