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A Sustainable Preparation of Glycerol Carbonate from Glycerol and Urea Catalyzed by Hydrotalcite‐Like Solid Catalysts
Author(s) -
Sun Yongfa,
Tong Xinli,
Wu Zhidong,
Liu Jinbiao,
Yan Yongtao,
Xue Song
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201300135
Subject(s) - hydrotalcite , catalysis , glycerol , chemistry , selectivity , carbonate , urea , inorganic chemistry , heterogeneous catalysis , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry , chemical engineering , engineering
The selective synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and urea catalyzed by hydrotalcite‐like compounds has been performed under solvent‐free conditions. Different hydrotalcite‐like compounds have been prepared and characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopic techniques (FTIR), which confirm the well‐defined structure of these materials. The investigations of the reaction of glycerol and urea showed that hydrotalcite‐like compounds including Mg, Zn, and Al elements have very high catalytic activity. As a result, 89.8 % conversion and 93.2 % selectivity for glycerol carbonate were obtained under suitable conditions. Compared to the addition of Zn, the addition of Ga and Ni is disadvantageous to the catalytic activity of Mg–Al hydrotalcite. These phenomena are consistent with the activity of the halides of these metals. The difference between the XRD and FTIR results of fresh and used catalysts showed the existence of dissolved metal, which was related to the catalytic activity in the reaction. The kinetic study with hydrotalcite catalysts was also performed. The relationship between the amounts of active species in liquid phase and the yield of product and recycling tests indicated that homogeneous catalysis was dominant during the entire reaction.