Catalytic potential of copper to the oxidation of glycerol: effect of the nature of the support.

Abstract

Glycerol, the main by-product of the biodiesel industry, is an attractive feedstock for the production of value-added chemicals through catalytic oxidation. This work evaluates the influence of support nature on the performance of copper catalysts (3 wt.% Cu) supported on Y, BETA and ZSM-11 zeolites, alumina nanofibers (NHAc), and activated carbon (CA). The catalysts were characterized by physicochemical techniques and tested in glycerol oxidation using molecular oxygen as the oxidant. The results demonstrated that the support strongly influences both catalytic activity and product selectivity. Cu-ZSM-11 exhibited the highest glycerol conversion (≈48%), whereas Cu-BETA showed the highest selectivity toward glyceric acid (99%). Moreover, the product distribution depended on the support, indicating that different reaction pathways are promoted according to the support properties. These findings demonstrate that support nature plays a key role in controlling the selective oxidation of glycerol toward high-value products.