The Effect of the ZrO2 Loading in SiO2@ZrO2-CaO Catalysts for Transesterification Reaction.

Daniela Salinas,Gina Pecchi,Cristian H. Campos,Tatiana M. Bustamante,Sichem Guerrero

doi:10.3390/ma13010221

Abstract

The effect of the ZrO2 loading was studied on spherical SiO2@ZrO2-CaO structures synthetized by a simple route that combines the Stöber and sol-gel methods. The texture of these materials was determined using SBET by N2 adsorption, where the increment in SiO2 spheres’ surface areas was reached with the incorporation of ZrO2. Combined the characterization techniques of using different alcoholic dissolutions of zirconium (VI) butoxide 0.04 M, 0.06 M, and 0.08 M, we obtained SiO2@ZrO2 materials with 5.7, 20.2, and 25.2 wt % of Zr. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis also uncovered the shape and reproducibility of the SiO2 spheres. The presence of Zr and Ca in the core–shell was also determined by TEM. X-ray diffraction (XRD) profiles showed that the c-ZrO2 phase changed in to m-ZrO2 by incorporating calcium, which was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. The purity of the SiO2 spheres, as well as the presence of Zr and Ca in the core–shell, was assessed by the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) method. CO2 temperature programmed desorption (TPD-CO2) measurements confirmed the increment in the amount of the basic sites and strength of these basic sites due to calcium incorporation. The catalyst reuse in FAME production from canola oil transesterification allowed confirmation that these calcium core@shell catalysts turn out to be actives and stables for this reaction.

Highlights

An efficient strategy to control carbon dioxide, CO2 emissions relies on developing platforms in order to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels around the world [1,2,3]
fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production has a relationship of this mixture was injected in production has a relationship with commercial canola oil composition, and we considered the principal fatty acid compositions of the canola oil for canola oil composition, and we production considered the fatty compositions ofwas the canola oil for catalytic activity in biodiesel
We suggest that the exposure of the catalytic system with decreasing the CaO available to catalyze the transesterification reaction

Summary

Introduction

An efficient strategy to control carbon dioxide, CO2 emissions relies on developing platforms in order to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels around the world [1,2,3]. As an alternative to this type of fuel, biofuels are becoming an important source of fuels contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions [3,4]. Biofuels are categorized in primary and secondary groups. The first group considers the production of biofuels from plants, animal waste, and wooded places [5]. The second group is related to the production of biofuels from raw materials and microorganisms. This group is further divided into first, second, and third generations. The first generation is produced from edible oils, such as corn, sunflower [1,6], cotton [7], soybean [8], palm [2], rapeseed [9], and canola oils [10,11]

Methods

Results

Conclusion