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New insights on the basicity of ZnAl–Zr hydrotalcites activated at low temperature and their application in transesterification of soybean oil

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Abstract

ZnAl–Zr(X) hydrotalcite-like materials were synthesized by co-precipitation using a Zn/Al molar ratio of 2 and Zr/Al(X) molar ratios of 0.0, 0.10, and 0.25. The effect of the activation temperature on the catalytic performance of these materials was analyzed, revealing that at relatively low temperature (200 °C), the collapse of the material structure is diminished, leading to FAME yields varying from 68 to 82%. This remarkable catalytic activity is related to the formation of hydrotalcite, zincite, and hydrozincite which in turn lead to the generation of Brönsted basic sites and Lewis acid–basic pairs. Incorporation of Zr+4 into the brucite-like structure of hydrotalcites enhances the basicity of ZnAl–Zr(X) catalysts, which correlates well with the increase in catalytic activity observed for these catalysts. The stability of the ZnAl–Zr(0.25) catalyst was further studied, showing insignificant deactivation after five subsequent reaction cycles. A simplified reaction scheme was proposed for the transesterification reaction over these materials.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors greatly appreciate financial support by CIC-UMSNH. DACM thanks CONACyT for the grant (487883) received during the development of this work. The authors also thank Rogelio Cuevas García for his assistance with the TGA experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Michoacán, 58030, México

    Denis A. Cabrera-Munguía, Horacio González & José L. Rico

  2. Departamento de Química, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, 09340, México

    Francisco Tzompantzi

  3. UNICAT, Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, 04510, México

    Aída Gutiérrez-Alejandre

  4. Centro Conjunto de Investigación en Química Sustentable, UAEM-UNAM, Toluca, 50200, México

    Dora A. Solís-Casados

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  1. Denis A. Cabrera-Munguía
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  2. Horacio González
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  3. Francisco Tzompantzi
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Correspondence to Horacio González.

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Cabrera-Munguía, D.A., González, H., Tzompantzi, F. et al. New insights on the basicity of ZnAl–Zr hydrotalcites activated at low temperature and their application in transesterification of soybean oil. Journal of Materials Research 33, 3614–3624 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2018.312

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