Glycerol is a co-product in the production of biodiesel, and owing to the increase of biodiesel production, glycerol output could also become surplus. Therefore, the conversion of glycerol to high value added chemicals has become an important research topic. Glycidol(GD) and Glycerol carbonate(GC) are important chemicals which could be synthesized from glycerol, and have wide range of applications. The transesterification of glycerol and dimethyl carbonate(DMC) is one of the methods for the production of GD and GC.Many literatures have been reported for the synthesis of GC by transesterification under various conditions, but the reports for the synthesis of GD directly from glycerol are still fewer. In present research, several mixed oxide catalysts (CuO/WO3/ZnO, CeO2/SBA-15, La2O3-ZnO etc) were investigated for their catalytic performance in the transesterification of GL and DMC, and the catalyst properties were also characterized. WO3, SBA-15 and ZnO oxide were prepared by hydrothermal method or precipitation method, while the CeO2/SBA-15, La2O3/ZnO etc mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by impregnation method. The catalytic performance of mixed metal oxide catalysts in the transeserification of GL and DMC were evaluated in an autoclave. The properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, NH3/CO2-TPD, and XPS. The selectivity of glycerol carbonate and glycidol can also be adjusted by changing the reaction conditions. According to our present research, the Zn or La based mixed oxide catalyst gives the highest GD selectivity with more than 98% glycerol conversion. The characterization and reaction results demonstrated that the base property was related to GD selectivity. In addition, the addition of additives such as DMF, DMF-DMA or DBU, could improve GD selectivity.

Synthesis of glycidol and glycerol carbonate from transesterification of DMC and glycerol over mixed oxide catalysts

255th National Meeting (2018)

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