Zirconia-based catalysts synthesized with template-assisted sol-gel method for hydrothermal conversion of sugars

FEDERICO PIOVANO; SOLEDAD ASPROMONTE; ALICIA BOIX

Buenos Aires

Workshop; French-Argentinean Workshop on Heterogeneous Catalysts; 2023

Catalytic hydrothermal conversion of saccharides is an attractive green chemistry process,since reactants can be obtained by hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulose is anabundant and low-cost resource from agricultural and forestry residues. Depending on thecatalyst employed, this process allows producing valuable platform molecules, such as lactic(LA), glycolic, formic, acrylic and levulinic acids, furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) [1].Among them, LA has extensive applications in cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industry.In addition, it is the chemical precursor of polylactic acid (bioplastics) and alkyl-lactates(biosolvents). LA can be obtained from sugars by retro-aldol condensation route using alkalinecatalysts [2]. However, a more selective and efficient process demands a catalyst with asuitable balance of Lewis and Brønsted acid sites. Furthermore, catalysts require aqueousmedium stability, high surface area and a porous structure that allows diffusion of bulkymolecules involved. The aim of this work is the synthesis of high surface porous catalysts basedon zirconia for their application in the hydrothermal conversion of sugars towards LA. Theimpact of certain parameters, such as the synthesis medium and template removal method, onthe physicochemical properties was determined.