DEVELOPMENT OF HIERARCHICAL ZEOLITIC CATALYST FOR BIOMASS CONVERSION REACTIONS
Beta Zeolite, Hierarchization, Glycerol Dehydration.
Beta zeolite has been frequently used in several reactions due to its interesting catalytic properties, such as: high specific area, shape selectivity, thermal stability, hydrothermal and acidic sites. However, the size of their micropores can hinder the diffusion of bulky molecules. An alternative to solve this limitation is to generate mesopores in the zeolite. Therefore, the objective of this work was to generate mesopores in Beta zeolite in order to obtain a hierarchical zeolite structure by an economical and easy method, and to evaluate its catalytic activity in the glycerol dehydration reaction in order to obtain higher value-added products. The hierarchical samples were obtained by alkaline treatment with NH4OH, in the presence and absence of the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The hierarchical samples without CTAB showed mesopores formation with wide pore size distribution. The samples hierarchized with CTAB exhibited controlled ordered mesopores. Such materials proved to be promising in the glycerol dehydration reaction, obtaining acetic acid (57.38%) and propanoic acid (69.58%) as products.