Issue 9, 2012

Gold, palladium and gold–palladium supported nanoparticles for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and urea

Abstract

Supported Au–Pd nanoparticles are shown to be effective catalysts for the transformation of glycerol into glycerol carbonate. The reaction of glycerol with urea to form glycerol carbonate is a very attractive reaction that utilises two inexpensive and readily available raw materials in a chemical cycle that, overall, results in the chemical fixation of carbon dioxide. Previous reports are largely based on the utilisation of high concentrations of metal sulphates or oxides, which suffer from low intrinsic activity and selectivity and limited recoverability due to the dissolution of the catalyst in the reaction media. We now report that magnesium oxide is an excellent support for gold and bimetallic gold–palladium nanoparticles for this reaction. The preparation method and pre-treatment affect the catalytic performance and a colloidal preparation route produces the most active catalysts.

Graphical abstract: Gold, palladium and gold–palladium supported nanoparticles for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and urea

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 May 2012
Accepted
23 May 2012
First published
23 May 2012

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 1914-1924

Gold, palladium and gold–palladium supported nanoparticles for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and urea

M. Hasbi Ab Rahim, Q. He, J. A. Lopez-Sanchez, C. Hammond, N. Dimitratos, M. Sankar, A. F. Carley, C. J. Kiely, D. W. Knight and G. J. Hutchings, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 1914 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20288C

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