Читать книгу Handbook of Biomass Valorization for Industrial Applications - Группа авторов - Страница 86

The utilization of glycerol to valuable products has attracted the attention of researchers because glycerol is produced in large quantities as waste during biodiesel production. The effective utilization of this waste will be an important factor that can reduce the cost of biodiesel and promote its commercialization. Since glycerol is a biomass-derived chemical feedstock, research efforts are being made globally for its transformation into marketable chemicals which can be employed as substitutes for chemicals derived from fossil resources. A catalytic route is an efficient approach for its transformation into valuable chemicals.

This chapter explained many catalytic processes for the conversion of glycerol into useful chemicals using carbon-based materials as a catalyst. Carbon-based catalysts have shown the potential to exhibit high glycerol conversions with quite a good selectivity. However, only a small number of studies have been conducted using carbon-based catalysts, and reaction conditions have not yet been completely optimized. A very high selectivity towards the desired product is still difficult because of the multifunctional structure of glycerol with the presence of hydroxyl groups of the same reactivity. Therefore, excellent opportunities are available to find new highly active carbon catalysts with high surface area, functional properties, desirable acidic or basic sites, and high hydrothermal stability for the transformation of glycerol to valuable products.