KNO3/CaO as cost-effective heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate

Various heterogeneous KNO3/CaO catalysts with different KNO3 loadings are prepared and used for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate. It is found that the basicity of KNO3/CaO catalyst depends on the KNO3 loading and calcination temperature. Under the dimethyl carbonate/glycerol molar ratio of 3.0, reaction temperature of 70 degrees C, and reaction time of 2 h, the glycerol conversion for the fresh KNO3/CaO(15%, 700) catalyst can reach 99.23%. Recycling experiments reveal that 94.95% of glycerol conversion can be obtained at the fifth reuse for the recovered KNO3/CaO(15%, 700), which is much higher than that of unmodified CaO. (C) 2015 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.