Ordered mesoporous Ba CO/C-catalyzed synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate

Ordered mesoporous Ba CO3/C composites were synthesized by a multi-component co-assembly method combined with a carbonization process using phenolic resol as carbon source, barium nitrate as barium precursor, and triblock copolymer Pluronic F127 as template. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N2 physical adsorption, thermogravimetric analysis, and temperature-programmed desorption of CO2. When Ba CO3 contents were increased from 9.1 wt% to 44.7 wt%, pore size increased from 3.1 to 4.3 nm and the BET(Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) surface area initially increased to a maximum value of 390 m2 g-1(at a Ba CO3 content of 18.5 wt%) before subsequently decreasing. Ba CO3 was well dispersed in the amorphous carbon framework, and no phase separation was observed. The mesoporous BaCO3/C composites exhibited high catalytic activities toward the transesterification of glycerol and dimethyl carbonate into glycerol carbonate. A glycerol conversion of 97.8% and a glycerol carbonate selectivity of 98.5% were obtained under the optimized reaction conditions.