Fuel additive synthesis by acetylation of glycerol using activated carbon/UiO-66 composite materials

In this study, zirconium-based metal organic frameworks, UiO-66, were synthesized by solvothermal method and activated carbon was incorporated to increase thermal, chemical stability and the catalytic activity of UiO-66. The characterization of synthesized hybrid materials was performed by TGA, SEM-EDS, FT-IR, XRD, N-2 adsorption/desorption methods and potentiometric titration analysis. The effect of synthesis parameters was investigated to obtain the most catalytically active catalyst. The synthesis parameters were ratio of activated carbon to zirconium ratio and the amount of linker in the synthesis of UiO-66/activated carbon composite materials. The most catalytically active catalyst was found as UiO-66/AC(0.1+10%) according to the triacetin selectivity in the acetylation of glycerol with acetic acid. The selectivities were calculated for UiO-66/AC(0.1+10%) as 67.3% MAG, 31.3% % DAG and 1.4% TAG at 90 degrees C, with 3:1 acetic acid/glycerol molar ratio for 3 h. Afterwards, parametric study was performed using most catalytically active catalyst at different catalyst loading, temperature and acetic acid/glycerol molar ratios. 17.9% of TAG selectivity was achieved when molar ratio of acetic acid to glycerol was increased to 6.