Interesterification of triglycerides with methyl acetate for biodiesel production using a cyclodextrin-derived SnO@γ-Al₂O₃ composite as heterogeneous catalyst

Claudia Prestigiacomo (1) , Martina Biondo (1) , Alessandro Galia (1) , Eric Monflier (2) , Anne Ponchel (2) , Dominique Prevost (3) , Onofrio Scialdone (1) , Sébastien Tilloy (2) , Rudina Bleta (2)

1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Sezione Chimica Ambientale Biomedica Idraulica e dei Materiali
2 UCCS Équipe Catalyse Supramoléculaire
3 UCCS - Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide - UMR 8181

Particle morphology and surface properties of metal oxides are topics of great importance in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we have developed a molecular-colloidal coassembly approach combined with an ultrasonic-assisted precipitation method to fabricate SnO@γ-Al₂O₃ composites with tuneable pore size and well-defined octahedral-shape crystal structure. The supramolecular assemblies formed between the randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin (RaMeβCD) and Pluronic F127 were employed as template to tailor the size and shape of γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles and direct their assembly almost exclusively on the surface of micrometer-sized SnO single crystals. Results revealed that the cooperative action of the supramolecular template and γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles may have a critical effect on the growth and orientation of SnO microcrystals and ultimately determine their catalytic performance in the interesterification of rapeseed oil with methyl acetate. The compartmentalized SnO@γ-Al₂O₃ structures could achieve fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and triacetin (TA) yields of 33.5% and 1.5% respectively after 30 min at 210 °C, exceeding by 38% the FAME yield of the commercial catalyst.

Domaines: Catalyse; Chimie

Claudia Prestigiacomo, Martina Biondo, Alessandro Galia, Eric Monflier, Anne Ponchel, et al.. Interesterification of triglycerides with methyl acetate for biodiesel production using a cyclodextrin-derived SnO@γ-Al₂O₃ composite as heterogeneous catalyst. Fuel, 2022, 321, pp.124026. ⟨10.1016/j.fuel.2022.124026⟩. ⟨hal-03637570⟩