Cesium exchanged tungstophosphoric acid supported on tin oxide: An efficient solid acid catalyst for etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol to synthesize biofuel additives

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.molcata.2015.10.005

Cesium exchanged tungstophosphoric acid (CsTPA) supported on tin oxide catalysts were prepared and their physio-chemical properties were derived from X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, laser Raman spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption of NH₃

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.molcata.2015.10.005

Accepted Manuscript
Title: Cesium exchanged tungstophosphoric acid supported on
tin oxide: An efficient solid acid catalyst for etherification of
glycerol with tert-butanol to synthesize biofuel additives
Author: M. Srinivas G. Raveendra G. Parameswaram P.S.Sai
Prasad N. Lingaiah
PII:
S1381-1169(15)30108-4
DOI:
Reference:
http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.molcata.2015.10.005
MOLCAA 9648
To appear in:
Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical
Received date:
Revised date:
Accepted date:
10-8-2015
28-9-2015
5-10-2015
Please cite this article as: M.Srinivas, G.Raveendra, G.Parameswaram, P.S.Sai
Prasad, N.Lingaiah, Cesium exchanged tungstophosphoric acid supported on tin
oxide: An efficient solid acid catalyst for etherification of glycerol with tert-
butanol to synthesize biofuel additives, Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molcata.2015.10.005
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Cesium exchanged tungstophosphoric acid supported on tin oxide: An efficient solid acid
catalyst for etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol to synthesize biofuel additives
M. Srinivas, G. Raveendra, G. Parameswaram, P. S. Sai Prasad, N. Lingaiah*
Catalysis Laboratory, I & PC Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad
500607, India.
*Corresponding author; Tel: +91-40-27191722; Fax: +91-40-27160921
E-mail: nakkalingaiah@iict.res.in; nakkalingaiah.iict@gov.in
1

Graphical abstract
Cesium exchanged tungstophosphoric acid supported on tin oxide: An efficient solid acid
catalyst for etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol to synthesize biofuel additives
Higher ethers sel. ≥ 44%
SnO2
Cs+
TPA
2

The research highlights:
 Cs exchanged TPA catalysts are selective for glycerol etherification.
 Glycerol etherification activity depends on the acidity of the catalysts.
 Acidity of the catalysts depends on amount Cs exchanged with TPA and support
 Surface-structural properties depend on the amount of CsTPA on SnO2.
3

Abstract
Cesium exchanged tungstophosphoric acid (CsTPA) supported on tin oxide catalysts
were prepared and their physio-chemical properties were derived from X-ray diffraction, FT-IR,
laser Raman spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption of NH3. The catalysts
activity was evaluated for etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol. The characterization results
of the catalysts revealed that the primary Keggin structure remained intact during the exchange
of TPA protons with Cs+ ions. The activity results showed that etherification activity depended
on the amount of the CsTPA over SnO2 and the catalyst with 20 wt% CsTPA supported on SnO2
showed high catalytic activity with 90% glycerol conversion with 44% selectivity towards higher
ethers. The activity of the catalyst depends on amount of surface acidic sites and dispersion
amount of CsTPA over SnO2. The etherification reaction was carried at different reaction
parameters and optimum reaction conditions were established. The catalysts were recyclable and
showed constant activity up on reuse.
Key words: Glycerol, tert-butanol, etherification, cesium exchanged tungstophophoric acid, tin dioxide.
4

1. Introduction
The development of environmental friendly process with the use of renewable resources
has gained much attention in recent times. Glycerol, one of the renewable resources is obtained
as a by-product in manufacturing biodiesel by transesterification of vegetable oils with alcohols
[1, 2]. Unfortunately, the current application of glycerol is mainly confined to pharmaceuticals
and cosmetics, hence the demand is somewhat limited [3]. It is necessary to find new outlets to
convert the surplus glycerol into high-value-added products in order to increase the economy of
biodiesel manufacture [4]. Selective oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid, dihydroxyacetone,
mesoxalic acid, etc. [5-7], dehydration to acrolein [8], hydrogenolysis to propylene glycol [9],
carbonylation to glycerol carbonate [10-12], synthesis of hydroxyquinoline and quinolone by
Skraup synthesis [13-15] and acetylation to esters [16] are some of the possible alternative routes
to convert glycerol to valuable products. One interesting option is the catalytic etherification of
glycerol with alcohols or short-chain olefins to obtain mono, di- and tri alkyl ethers of glycerol.
The mono alkyl glyceryl ethers are highly valuable chemicals since they exhibit a wide range of
application as intermediates in the pharmaceutical industry, agrochemicals and as non-ionic
surfactants [17, 18]. The di and tri alkyl ethers of glycerol (higher ethers) constitute excellent
oxygenated additives with a large potential for diesel and biodiesel reformulation. When these
higher ethers are incorporated into standard 30–40% aromatic containing diesel fuel, emissions
of particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and unregulated aldehydes reduced
significantly [19]. Thus, synthesis of higher ethers has gained lot of interest in recent times.
Glycerol etherification with tert-butanol or isobutylene has been studied in the presence
of acid catalysts [20-24]. When isobutylene (IB) was used as an etherification agent, better
conversion and selectivity to higher ethers were obtained [25]. However, it should be noted that
5

IB produced by steam cracking of high boiling petroleum fractions or mixture of saturate
hydrocarbons [26]. Therefore, the use of tert-butanol as etherifying agent, in substitution of IB,
avoids both the need of solvents (i.e., dioxane, dimethyl sulfoxide) and the mass transfer
limitation phenomena related to the complex three-phase system [27]. Moreover, TBA is a by-
product of the large-scale propylene oxide production and it also can be produced from bio-
sources, like starch or lignocellulosic biomass [28].
Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts are employed for etherification of glycerol
with tert-butanol [29, 30]. In spite of several advantages, homogeneous catalysts have some
problems which include recovering the catalyst and separation of the products. Therefore an
effective and environmentally benign solid heterogeneous catalyst is required. To date, very few
heterogeneous catalysts such as commercial ion-exchange resins (Amberlyst 15 and 35) [31],
wide-porous zeolites (ZSM-5, H–Y and H–Beta zeolites, etc.,) [26], sulfonated carbon [32],
Nafion on amorphous silica [33] and heteropolyacids [34] were reported for etherification of
glycerol. Very recently, M.D. Gonalez et al. [35] reported that fluorinated beta zeolites generated
higher amounts strong Brønsted acid sites, which enable high glycerol conversion (75%) and
selectivity to higher ethers (37%). Even though all of these catalysts reported high glycerol
conversion, the overall selectivity towards higher ethers is limited and requires long reaction
times.
The Keggin type heteropolyacids (HPA) have attracted a lot of attention due to their
strong Bronsted acidity and environmental friendliness [36, 37]. However, its low surface area
(<10 m2g-1) and high solubility in polar solvents limit its potential catalytic performance. HPAs
can be made heterogeneous by exchange of its protons (H+) with metal ions [38, 39] and/or
supporting them on suitable supports [40, 41]. The support plays an important role in enhancing
6

the acidity, thermal stability and surface area of the final catalyst. Very recently, Frusteri et al
[33] investigated cesium exchanged phosphotungstic acid (TPA) supported on silica catalysts
and tested for etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol. However the catalyst was less selective
towards higher ethers. Cs-containing phosphotungstates are well-known as a water insoluble
strong Brønsted acid and a versatile solid acid catalyst possessing high thermal stability (≥500
°C) and water tolerance [42]. However, they have the tendency to form milky colloid in polar
solutions which can be overcome by stabilizing them on suitable supports [43]. Tin oxide, SnO2,
has been used wide range of applications in sciences, technologies and industries, such as
catalysis, conductivity, gas sensing, ceramics, plastics, and antistatic coating [44, 45]. Thus it is
of interest to study the novelties of supported tin oxide catalysts for etherification of glycerol
with tert-butanol.
In the present study, tungstophosphoric acid was modified by exchanging its protons with
Cs+ ions and dispersed on tin oxide support. The catalysts were evaluated for etherification of
glycerol with tert-butanol. The reaction was tested under different reaction parameters to yield
higher ethers. The catalyst performance was discussed with the observed physico-chemical
properties derived from different characterization methods.
2. Experimental
2.1 Catalyst preparation
Cs exchanged TPA supported on tin oxide catalysts were prepared in two steps. In the
first step, the required quantity of TPA was dissolved in water and this solution was added drop
7

wise to support, tin oxide. After stirring for 30 min, the excess water was removed on water bath
and the samples were calcined at 300 °C for 2 h. In the second step, calculated amount of cesium
nitrate dissolved in distilled water was added drop wise to the TPA supported SnO2 samples. The
TPA content on support is varied from 10 - 30 wt %. The final catalyst are denoted as Y wt. %
Cs1TPA/SnO2 (YC1TS) where Y = 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30.
2.2 Catalysts characterization
BET surface area of the catalyst samples were obtained by N2 adsorption at liquid N2
temperature on Autosorb-1 (Quantachrome) instrument. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD)
patterns of the catalysts were recorded on a Rigaku Miniflex diffractometer using CuKα
radiation (1.5406 Å) at 40 kV and 30 mA. The measurements were obtained in steps of 0.045°
with an account time of 0.5 s and in the 2θ range of 10-80°. FT-IR spectra of catalysts were
recorded on a Biorad Excalibur spectrometer adopting the KBr disc method. The elemental
analysis of the samples was measured by Agilent 7700 Series Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectrometer (ICP-MS).
Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of NH3 was carried out in a laboratory-built
apparatus equipped with a gas chromatograph using a TCD detector. In a typical experiment,
about 0.1 g of oven dried sample was taken in a quartz tube. The catalyst sample was initially
activated at 300 °C for 2 h under flowing helium (He) gas (99.995%, 50 ml/min) to clean the
surface of the catalyst. After cooling the sample to 100 °C the sample was exposed to 10% NH3
balanced He gas for 1 h. The sample was then flushed with He to drive off physisorbed NH3.
TPD of the catalyst was then carried out in He flow at a rate of 30 ml/min, in the temperature
range of 100–700 °C and with a ramp of 10 °C/min. The amount of NH3 desorbed was calculated
from the peak area of the already calibrated TCD signal.
8

2.3 Experimental procedure
Etherification of glycerol was carried out in a 100-ml haste alloy PARR autoclave.
Etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol were carried at autogenous pressure. Required
quantities of glycerol (0.02 mol), tert-butanol (0.12 mol) and catalyst (1.3 mmol) were
introduced in to the autoclave and purged three times with N2. After the purge, the reactor was
heated to desired reaction temperature and stirring was fixed for all experiments at 500 rpm to
avoid external diffusion limitations. During the reaction, pressure was developed autogenously.
After the reaction, the gas phase products were collected in a gasbag and the liquid phase
products were separated from the catalyst by filtration. Liquid products were analyzed using a
gas chromatograph (Shimadzu 2010) equipped with FID using capillary Inno wax (0.25 mm×30
m, DF=0.25) column. The products were confirmed by GC–MS (Shimadzu, GCMS-QP2010)
analysis also. The gas products were analyzed by using a gas chromatograph (Porapak Q
column) equipped with a thermal conductivity detector. In addition, the products were
comparatively confirmed with the assistance of the characterization data reported by Jamróz et al
[46].
3. Results and discussion
3.1 Catalysts characterization
Table 1 summarizes the physico-chemical properties of Cs salt of TPA supported over
SnO2 catalysts. The variation in the Cs1TPA content over SnO2 resulted a decrease in the BET
9

surface areas compared with their parent support. The decrease in the surface area of the catalyst
is due to the pore blockage of the surface with Cs1TPA. However, the supported catalysts surface
areas were still much higher than the bulk TPA.
Fig. 1 shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of the catalysts. The peaks at 2θ values of
26.1, 33.3, 51.4, 54.4, 61.5, and 65.6° were correspond to (1 1 0), (1 0 1), (2 0 0), (2 1 1), (2 2 0),
(3 1 0), and (3 0 1) reflection planes of tetragonal structure of SnO2 respectively [47]. The
patterns showed the Keggin ion of Cs1TPA at 2θ of 23.7, 30.1, 37.6, and 45.8°. These
characteristic peaks were observed for all the catalysts. The particle size of the catalysts
calculated from Fig. 1 and the results suggest that increase in particle size with increase in
CsTPA content on support.
FT-IR spectra of the catalysts are shown in Fig. 2. An IR spectrum of
tungstophosphoric acid is shown in the inset of Fig. 2 for the sake of comparison. The spectra
shows bands at 1080, 981, 889, 796, and 595 cm-1 related to asymmetric vibrations of P - Oa, W
= Ot, W-Ob-W and W-Oc-W and the bending mode of Oa- P - Oa, respectively [48]. Cs
exchanged TPA supported on SnO2 catalysts showed less intense IR bands. The shift of W–Ob–
W band from 982 cm-1 to 986 cm-1 compared to TPA in all the samples reveals that the Keggin
unit of TPA strongly interacted with SnO2 surface through corner-shared oxygen. In addition, the
typical vibration of 986 cm-1 was spitted into two (987 and 995 cm-1) for 20C1TS suggesting the
existence of direct interaction between the [PW12O40]3- anions and Cs+ cations [48, 49].
The nature of acidic sites of the catalysts were determined by temperature programmed
desorption of ammonia. The classification of acid site strength is depended on the NH3
desorption temperature [50]. TPD profiles of the catalysts are presented in the Fig. 3. The
Cs1TPA/SnO2 catalysts showed the desorption peaks related to medium and strong acidic sites.
10

Catalyst with 20 wt% Cs1TPA/SnO2 showed a strong desorption peak centered at 580 °C related
to strong acidic sites. The strong desorption band intensity decreased for the catalysts with above
20 wt% Cs1TPA content. The decrease in acidity at higher loadings of Cs1TPA might be related
to the attainment of bulk nature on the support.
3.2 Activity measurements
3.2.1 Effect of Cs1TPA loading on SnO2 for etherification of glycerol
The catalysts with varying Cs1TPA content on SnO2 were evaluated for etherification of
glycerol with tert-butanol and the results are presented in Table 2. The amount of Cs present in
the catalysts was evaluated by using ICP-MS analysis. Amount of cesium present in the catalysts
are found to be equal to their nominal values. The catalytic activity of the support SnO2 and 20%
TPA/SnO2 were also studied for comparison. The support, SnO2 showed 10% glycerol
conversion with 100% selectivity towards monoethers and no selectivity for higher ethers. By
loading 10 wt% of Cs1TPA over SnO2 glycerol conversion increased to 74% with 24%
selectivity towards higher ethers. Further increase in Cs1TPA loading over tin oxide, conversion
of glycerol increased and reached about 91% for the catalyst with 20 wt% Cs1TPA on SnO2.
Above this loading there was no appreciable variation in the conversion. The loadings 15 and 20
wt% of Cs1TPA on SnO2 showed similar activity, but 20 wt% Cs1TPA showed high selectivity
for higher ethers. The difference in selectivity for higher ethers might be due to the well
dispersion of Cs1TPA on tin oxide and higher amount of stronger acidic sites. Acidity results of
TPD of ammonia (Fig. 3) are also in good agreement with the observed catalytic activity. The
15 and 20%Cs1TPA/SnO2 showed acidity values as 0.122 and 0.196 mmol respectively. The
increase in activity for 20%Cs1TPA/SnO2 is related to its high acidity which in turn related to the
11

content of Cs1TPA and its dispersion on SnO2. Based on the above findings, plausible reaction
mechanism was proposed (Scheme 1) for the etherification reaction. It is speculated that
Bronsted acidic sites present on Cs1TPA activates tert-butanol and Lewis acidic sites on support
activates the glycerol and forms monoethers. Successive transformation of glycerol to higher
ethers is attained due to the regeneration of acidic sites. The successive transformation of
glycerol to higher ethers shows that the catalyst has no impact with the formed byproducts and
water. These results indicate that Cs1TPA/SnO2 is a water tolerant acid catalyst [51].
The catalytic activity of the 20 wt% Cs1TPA/SnO2 was compared with 20 wt%
TPA/SnO2. The parent heteropolyacid supported on SnO2 (20% TPA/SnO2) showed about 85%
conversion of glycerol and selectivity for monoethers and higher ethers was found to be 72% and
28% respectively. In the case of catalyst with Cs containing 20 wt% Cs1TPA/SnO2, conversion
of glycerol was 91% and selectivity towards higher ethers was 44%. The catalytic activity of Cs
salt of TPA is higher than that of parent TPA supported on SnO2. The main reason for the high
activity of Cs salt of TPA is its high surface acidity i.e. the large number of strongly acidic
protons on the surface. Moreover, the stability of the Cs1TPA/SnO2 catalyst is high compared to
TPA/SnO2. Okuhara et al. [52] have disclosed that alkali exchange with proton of TPA results in
enhanced activity, better stability, and higher surface area of heteropoly acids. In order to know
the efficiency of 20% Cs1TPA/SnO2 catalysts, turnover number (TON) were calculated by using
complete catalyst weight as active component and the corresponding values are presented in
Table 2. The TON was calculated by using the equation given below. The TON and conversion
of glycerol depends upon the content of Cs1TPA in the catalyst. The TON of 20% TPA/SnO2
was low compared to 20% Cs1TPA/SnO2 catalysts. With the increase in content of Cs1TPA, the
TON values increased and maximum value was obtained for 20% Cs1TPA/SnO2 catalyst.
12

(% conversion of glycerol)moles of glycerol taken
TON =
moles of the catalyst
3.2.2 Effect of catalyst loading
The catalyst loading was varied in the range of 1.5 – 3.5 wt% and the results are
presented in Fig. 4. The catalyst amount mainly influence the formation of higher ethers. At
lower catalyst loading selectivity for monoethers are found to be maximum. With increase in the
catalyst concentration, selectivity for higher ethers gradually increased and about 44% selectivity
for higher ethers was obtained at a catalyst content of 2.5 wt%. The conversion of glycerol
increased with an increase in catalyst loading due to the proportional increase in the number of
active sites. When the catalyst amount was further increased there is marginal decrease in the
conversion of glycerol and selectivity for monoethers increased. This decrease in the activity
might be due to the continuously formation of water, which negatively affects the etherification
equilibrium [53]. As the catalyst loading increased above 2.5 wt% there is substantial increase in
the formation of by-products of isobutene was observed. Therefore, further reactions were
carried out keeping catalyst loading as 2.5 wt% in all other experiments.
3.2.3 Effect of reaction time
Reaction time is an important parameter and long reaction times (>8 h) were adopted
usually for glycerol etherification to obtain reasonable conversion [54]. The conversion of
glycerol and selectivity to higher ethers at different reaction times was studied and the results are
presented in Fig. 5.
13

The conversion of glycerol was high even at 30 min suggesting that high activity of the
catalyst, but the selectivity for higher ethers was only 25%. As the reaction time increased from
30 min to 60 min glycerol conversion and selectivity towards higher ethers also increased,
whereas the selectivity of monoethers decreased, because the di- and triether products are formed
through consecutive etherification reactions [24]. Maximum conversion of glycerol and
selectivity towards higher ethers were achieved within 60 min of reaction time. Further increase
in the reaction time over 60 min there is no appreciable increase in conversion of glycerol and in
the formation of higher ethers, on further increasing the reaction time selectivity for higher ethers
remained constant indicating that the reaction reached equilibrium after 60 min. The higher
selectivity to higher ethers even at longer reaction times reflects that the present catalyst was
efficient to selective etherification to synthesize higher ethers.
3.2.4 Effect of reaction temperature
The effect of reaction temperature on conversion of glycerol was studied in the
temperature range of 80–110 °C and the results are shown in Fig. 6. As expected, the conversion
of glycerol increased with increase in reaction temperature. The glycerol conversion was only
66% at 80°C with 20% selectivity towards higher ethers. As the temperature increased to 100 °C
the conversion of glycerol also increased up to 91% and selectivity to higher ethers were also
increased from 27% to 43%. However, when the reaction was carried out above 110 °C,
formation of polymeric products were observed. These byproducts might be formed by the
dimerization of isobutene. It was also observed the presence of isobutylene in the gas phase at
higher reaction temperatures (>110 °C). No polyglycerols were detected under these
experimental conditions. These results suggest that the optimum reaction temperature is 100°C.
14

3.2.5 Effect of glycerol to tert-butanol mole ratio
Glycerol to tert-butanol molar ratio is an important parameter to obtain high glycerol
conversion and selectivity towards higher ethers. Fig. 7 shows the effect of glycerol to tert-
butanol mole ratio on the etherification reaction. The results suggest that, as the mole ratio of
glycerol to tert-butanol decreased from 1:6 to 1:12, the glycerol conversion was increased from
75 to 91%. However, there was no significant increase in the conversion of glycerol with further
decrease the mole ratio from 1:12 to 1:15. A marginal decrease in selectivity to higher ethers was
observed at high mole ratios but evidenced the formation of isobutene dimers. The decrease in
selectivity may be explained on the basis of the fact that the increase in the tert-butanol
concentration hinders the etherification reaction by blocking the active sites on the catalyst
surface [35]. Thus, there is a competitive adsorption of the tert-butanol on the acid sites with
glycerol, which reduces the efficiency of the catalyst.
3.2.6 Comparison of the catalyst with other reported catalysts
In addition to the above study, the catalytic activity of the present catalyst was compared
with activity of the reported catalysts for the etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol and the
results were summarized in the Table 3. Among the reported catalysts, sulfonated clay exhibited
high glycerol conversion (95 %) and selectivity for higher ethers (37 %) [28]. The highest yield
for glycerol ethers (46%) was obtained with an amount of catalyst equivalent to 7.5 wt% A-15
catalyst with respect to the mass and reaction time of 50 h [33]. The present catalyst,
20%Cs1TPA/SnO2 exhibited high glycerol conversion (91%) and selectivity (44%) than the
previously reported catalysts under mild conditions as shown in Table 4. The catalyst designed
in the present work was prepared by non-toxic Cs metal ion with eco-friendly heteropolyacids as
its backbone and made the synthesis of glycerol ethers, a green process.
15

3.27 Reusability
In order to assess the reusability of 20C1TS catalyst for glycerol etherification, the
catalyst was separated from the reaction system by centrifugation after the completion of each
run. The catalyst was washed with methanol, dried at 100 °C and used for further reaction cycle
under identical reaction conditions. As illustrated in Table 4, 20C1TS catalyst exhibited constant
activity until four reaction cycles without showing distinct decline in catalytic activity. These
results have demonstrated that the 20C1TS catalyst is rather durable and holds the potential for
practical applications. Furthermore, the inherent heterogeneous nature of 20% Cs1TPA/SnO2
catalyst can favor to recover the catalyst as well as the reaction products.
4.0 Conclusions
Cesium salts of TPA supported on SnO2 catalysts were prepared with retention of
Keggin ion structure. The characterization results suggest the presence of strong acidic sites,
where acid strength depends on the exchangeable protons on TPA with Cs+ ions and TPA
loading on SnO2. The etherification activity was related to the acidity of the catalyst. The Cs-
containing catalysts possess stronger acidic sites compared to the catalyst without Cs. The 20%
CsTPA/SnO2 catalyst exhibited 90% glycerol conversion with 44% selectivity for higher ethers.
The glycerol etherification activity and selectivity not only depended on the nature of the catalyst
but also on some reaction parameters such as temperature, time and mole ratio of glycerol to tert-
butanol. The catalyst exhibited reusability with constant activity.
16

Acknowledgements
The authors MS, GR and GP thank Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), New
Delhi, India for the award of Senior Research Fellowship and for utilizing the facility of ICP-OES under
AARF project of 12th five year plan.
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21










(e)

(d)
(c)
(b)
(a)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2 Theta()
Fig. 1. XRD patterns of (a) 10 C1TS (b) 15 C1TS (c) 20 C1TS (d) 25 C1TS and (e) 30C1TS. (♦)
TPA and (*) SnO2
(TPA)
(e)
595
(d)
889
796
1080
1100
981
1000
1200
900
800
700
600
500
Wave number (cm-1
)
(c)
(b)
(a)
1079
986
890
800
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
Wave number (cm-1)
Fig. 2. FT-IR spectra of (a) 10 C1TS (b) 15 C1TS (c) 20 C1TS (d) 25 C1TS and (e) 30C1TS
22

Pure-TPA
100
200
300
400
500
C)
600
700
Temperature (

(e)
(d)
(c)
(b)
(a)
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Temperature (oC)
Fig. 3. Temperature programmed desorption of ammonia patterns of (a) 10 C1TS (b) 15 C1TS (c)
20 C1TS (d) 25 C1TS and (e) 30C1TS.
23

Triether
Diether
Monoether
conversion of glycerol
100
80
60
40
20
0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
Catalyst loading (wt%)
Fig. 4. Effect of catalyst loading on etherification of glycerol.
Reaction conditions: glycerol (1.84 g), tert-butanol (17.84 g), reaction temperature (100 °C) and
reaction time (1 h).
24

80
60
40
20
Conversion of glycerol
Triethers
Diethers
Monoethers
30
60
90
120
Reaction time (min)
Fig. 5. Effect of reaction time on etherification of glycerol.
Reaction conditions: glycerol (1.84 g), tert-butanol (17.84 g), catalyst weight (0.5g) and reaction
temperature (100 °C).
25

100
80
60
40
20
0
Conversion of glycerol
Monoethers
Diethers
Triethers
80
90
100
110
Reaction temperature (C)
Fig. 6. Effect of reaction temperature on etherification of glycerol.
Reaction conditions: glycerol (1.84 g), tert-butanol (17.84 g), reaction time (1h) and catalyst
weight (0.5g).
26

Conversion of glycerol
Triether
Diether
Monoether
100
80
60
40
20
0
1:6
1:9
1:12
1:15
Mole ratio (glycerol : tert-butanol)
Fig. 7. Effect of glycerol to tert-butanol mole ratio on etherification of glycerol.
Reaction conditions: Reaction time 1 h, Reaction temperature 100 °C and catalyst weight (0.5g).
27

Scheme 1. Plausible mechanism for etherification of glycerol with tert-butanol
28

Table 1. Physio-chemical properties of the catalysts
Cs content
(mg/L)
Particle
(nm)b
size
Catalyst
SBET (m2/g)
Acidity (mmol/g)a
TPA
-
9.5
-
-
SnO2
-
15.1
14.1
13.8
12.1
10.4
9.8
0.064
0.112
0.122
0.196
0.141
0.101
10.4
23.2
62.2
62.3
97.2
105.2
10%C1TS
15% C1TS
20% C1TS
25% C1TS
30% C1TS
0.45
0.68
0.91
1.08
1.27
aAcidity measured using NH3 TPD
bParticle size calculated using Sherrer equation
Table 2. Effect of Cs1TPA content on etherification of glycerol
Selectivity (%)
Catalyst
Conversion (%)
TON
Monoethers
diether
-
triether
SnO2
5
100
72
74
62
56
67
61
-
-
20% TPA/SnO2
10C1TS
15C1TS
20C1TS
25C1TS
30C1TS
85
69
88
91
81
80
23
5
107
93
17
9
28
10
11
7
111
115
102
101
33
26
30
9
Reaction conditions: glycerol (1.84 g), tert-butanol (17.84 g), catalyst weight (0.5 g), reaction temperature (100 °C)
and reaction time (1 h).
29