Development of a catalyst comprising MCM-22 and mono lacunary silicotungstate for conversion of biodiesel waste to fuel additives

The application of hierarchical zeolites with Mobile Twenty-Two (MWW) topology in catalysis has attracted growing attention in recent years. In this direction, the present article reports a novel and sustainable synthesis of an innovative heterogeneous catalyst comprising MCM-22 and mono lacunary silicotungstate (SiW11), (SiW11/ MCM-22). Detailed characterization of the catalyst was carried out using various physicochemical techniques. With a such catalyst, for the first time, catalytic synthesis of fuel additives via acetalization of biodiesel waste, glycerol with furfural was carried out and commendable results were achieved (74 % conversion and 62 % 1,3-dioxane selectivity) under mild reaction conditions (30 mg, 50 degrees C, 40 min) with excellent TOF of 4900 h-1. The control experiments were carried out the understand the effect of the structure of MCM-22 as well as the role of SiW11 on the catalytic activity. The sustainability, as well as the true heterogeneous nature of the catalyst, was studied by recycling experiments for multiple runs and characterization of the regenerated catalyst. The acti-vation energy (67 kJ/mol) was determined from kinetic experiments and a plausible mechanism was proposed. Moreover, the activity of the present catalyst was compared with the reported systems.

Automated summary

This article reports a sustainable synthesis method of an innovative heterogeneous catalyst (SiW11/MCM-22), which shows great potential in catalysis. The catalyst exhibited commendable catalytic performance in the acetalization reaction of glycerol and furfural, achieving high conversion and selectivity under mild reaction conditions.