Fatty acid decarboxylation reaction kinetics and pathway of co-conversion with amino acid on supported iron oxide catalysts. Issue 75 (6th October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bian, Junjie; Wang, Yue; Zhang, Qi; Fang, Xudong; Feng, Lijuan; Li, Chunhu
• Is Part Of: RSC advances. Volume 7:Issue 75(2017)
• Page Start: 47279
• Page End: 47287
• Publication Date: 2017-10-06
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/c7ra08507a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-2069

Abstract

Abstract : Reaction kinetics and pathways of palmitic acid decarboxylation on Fe2O3/Al-MCCM-41 catalyst. Abstract : Fe2 O3 /Al-MCM-41 nanocomposite catalysts were designed and fabricated to upgrade microalgae hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL)-derived biocrude and its model compounds (palmitic acid and glutamic acid) in the absence of hydrogen. The Fe2 O3 /Al-MCM-41 catalysts were prepared by encapsulating Fe2 O3 particles on highly stable pure silica MCM-41 and Al-MCM-41. XRD, TEM, N2 adsorption isotherms, XPS, and UV-Vis characterizations of the catalysts revealed that 10–30 nm γ-Fe2 O3 particles were well dispersed on the mesoporous support. In the range of 320–350 °C and under subcritical water, palmitic acid conversion was improved by 43–54% by the Fe2 O3 /Al-MCM-41 catalyst. The overall reaction rate was first order to palmitic acid for non-catalytic and catalytic conversions, and the activation energy was 336.76 kJ mol −1 for Fe2 O3 /Al-MCM-41. In situ DRIFTS reaction test demonstrated that the initiation temperature for the catalytic decarboxylation of palmitic acid was decreased to 195 °C, and desorption of the produced CO2 occurred at 255 °C. Based on the GC-MS results of the HTL products, the reaction pathway of the binary mixture of palmitic acid and glutamic acid was elucidated, and the chemical origins of amide, pyrrolidinone, hydroxy-butanoic acid, and pentadecane were proposed.