DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL METAL ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS BASED CATALYSTS FOR BIO-FUEL PRODUCTION

Abstract

The global energy demand is dramatically increasing, and the dependence is on petroleum fossil fuels. Liquid biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are considered great alternatives to fossil fuels in the transportation sector. Butyl levulinate which is produced through the esterification reaction of butanol and levulinic acid in the presence of a catalyst, is considered as one of the most promising fossil fuel substitutes. The conventional catalyst for this reaction is sulphuric acid, which is known to be corrosive, environmentally hazardous, and hard to recover and recycle. In this work, Metal Organic Frameworks knows as MOFs are employed as heterogeneous catalysts for butyl levulinate production. MOFs are new class of porous crystalline solids consists of metal ions linked to organic ligands via strong coordination bonds and arranged in extended networks. Their extraordinary characteristics including large surface area, stability, presence of accessible metal sites, and high porosity give them great potentials in various fields ranging from catalysis, gas separation, to adsorption. The thrust of this research project is to understand the relation between the synthesis, composition, structure and properties of the catalyst materials. To this end, MOF-74 which could incorporate different metals (e.g. Mg, Zn, Mn, Co, and Ni) are synthesized and fully characterized by XRD, TGA, SEM, IR and BET measurements. Their catalytic activity in the esterification to butyl levulinate is further investigated by detecting the produced ester on GC. Moreover, MOF catalysts will be loaded by magnetic nanoparticles to produce magnetic metal organic framework composites (MFCs). The resulting MFCs will be used to enhance the separation process from the reaction media. This work sheds light on the effect of designing MOFs’ structures to serve as efficient catalysts for the production of esters that are of industrial relevance in the biofuel sector.