Fluorine-doped tin oxide catalyst for glycerol conversion to methanol in sub-critical water

• Main Authors: Samad, Wan Zurina, Goto, Motonobu, Kanda, Hideki, W., Wahyudiono, Nordin, Norazzizi K., Kin Hong, Liew, Yarmo, Mohd Ambar, Yusop, Muhammad Rahimi
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: Elsevier B.V. 2017
• Subjects: QD Chemistry
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/57636/19/57636_Fluorine-doped%20tin%20oxide.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/57636/2/57636_Fluorine-doped%20tin%20oxide%20catalyst%20for%20glycerol%20conversion%20to%20methanol%20in%20sub-critical%20water_SCOPUS.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/57636/3/57636_Fluorine-doped%20tin%20oxide%20catalyst%20for%20glycerol%20conversion%20to%20methanol%20in%20sub-critical%20water_WoS.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/57636/; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896844616301607

In this study, a method for the catalytic conversion of glycerol to methanol in sub-critical water (subCW) is proposed. Glycerol conversion to methanol using the subCW method is a new attempt to the best of the authors's knowledge and this process was compared with the conventional hydrogenolysis method. For the first time, fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) was applied as a novel heterogeneous catalyst for the conversion of glycerol to methanol. The sub-critical reaction was conducted under optimal and mild conditions at a reaction temperature of 300 °C, reaction time of 30 min, and at a low pressure sufficient to maintain the liquid phase. Initial feedstock (glycerol) concentration and catalyst amount of 20 wt% and 0.01 g respectively, were utilized and glycerol conversion and methanol selectivity were measured using gas chromatography-flame ion detector (GC-FID) analysis. Optimum glycerol conversion of ∼80% was achieved, with methanol as the major product with a selectivity of ∼100%. The subCW method can also be applied for extraction processes as well as biomass conversion by optimizing some parameters such as reaction time, catalyst amount, reaction temperatures, and catalyst cyclability.