Dehydration of glycerol with silica–phosphate-supported copper catalyst

Buffering Donor Shuttles in Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Kinetics for Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Hydroxyacetone to Propylene Glycol

Electrochemical hydrogenation reactions demand rapid proton-coupled electron transfer at the electrode surface, the kinetics of which depend closely on pH. Buffer electrolytes are extensively employed to regulate pH over a wide range. However, the specific role of buffer species should be taken into account when interpreting the intrinsic pH dependence, which is easily overlooked in the current research. Herein, we report the electrochemical hydrogenation of hydroxyacetone, derived from glycerol feedstock, to propylene glycol with a faradaic efficiency of 56 ± 5% on a polycrystalline Cu electrode. The reaction activities are comparable in citrate, phosphate, and borate buffer electrolytes, encompassing different buffer identities and pH. The electrokinetic profile reveals that citrate is a site-blocking adsorbate on the Cu surface, thereby decreasing buffer concentration and increasing pH will enhance the reaction rate; phosphate is an explicit proton donor, which promotes the interfacial rate by increasing buffer concentration and decreasing pH, while borate is an innocent buffer, which can be used to investigate the intrinsic pH effect. Combined with in situ SEIRAS, we demonstrate that water is the primary proton source in citrate and borate electrolytes, reiterating the rationality of the proposed mechanism based on the microkinetic modeling. Our results emphasize the intrinsic complexity of the buffer system on the kinetic activity for electrocatalysis. It calls for special care when we diagnose the mechanistic pathway in buffer electrolytes convoluted by different buffer identities and pH.

Heterogeneous Catalysts for Conversion of Biodiesel-Waste Glycerol into High-Added-Value Chemicals

The valuable products produced from glycerol transformation have become a research route that attracted considerable benefits owing to their huge volumes in recent decades (as a result of biodiesel production as a byproduct) as well as a myriad of chemical and biological techniques for transforming glycerol into high-value compounds, such as fuel additives, biofuels, precursors and other useful chemicals, etc. Biodiesel has presented another challenge in the considerable increase in its byproduct (glycerol). This review provides a recent update on the transformation of glycerol with an exclusive focus on the various catalysts’ performance in designing reaction operation conditions. The different products observed and cataloged in this review involved hydrogen, acetol, acrolein, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol (1,3-propanediol and 1,2-propanediol) from reforming and dehydration and hydrogenolysis reactions of glycerol conversions. The future prospects and critical challenges are finally presented.

Effect of FSP-inserted Cu on Physicochemical Properties of Cu/Al2O3 Catalyst

The copper inserted on Cu/Al2O3 catalysts with various Cu loading (10-40 wt%) were synthesized via flame spray pyrolysis (FSP). These catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 physisorption, temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES). The XRD results confirmed the formation of copper aluminate spinel (CuAl2O4) on the FSP-inserted Cu catalyst. The CuO crystallite size of the Cu/Al2O3 catalysts was increased with increasing Cu loading during the flame spray pyrolysis step. The incorporation of copper and aluminum precursors during the flame spray pyrolysis step can inhibit the growth of Al2O3 particles resulting in higher BET surface area and smaller particle size than pure Al2O3 support. The data from TPR and XANES results can predict the ratio of CuO and CuAl2O4 in the FSP-made support. Less than 20 wt% loading of the FSP-inserted Cu showed high concentration of CuAl2O4 phase in the FSP-made material. The composition of CuO and CuAl2O4 phase can be controlled by varying Cu loading in flame spray pyrolysis step. This is a promising alternative way to synthesize the desired catalyst. An example was the catalytic testing of the selective hydrogenolysis of glycerol. The presence of both CuO and CuAl2O4 phases in the Cu/Al2O3 catalyst enhanced the catalytic activity and promoted the selectivity to acetol product. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).