Direct production of hexyl levulinate as a potential fuel additive from glucose catalyzed by modified dendritic fibrous nanosilica, 

• Renewable Energy 

Authors

Zahra Mohammadbagheri, Alireza Najafi Chermahini

Ultrasonic as a fast and powerful method was applied to prepare dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS_U) and the properties of this silica were compared with those of DFNS prepared by hydrothermal method (DFNS_H). Using this support, a series of the Zn/DFNS_U catalysts were prepared by incorporation of different zinc values using the co-condensation technique. The prepared catalysts were characterized by various methods (FT-IR, XRD, ICP, SEM, TEM, BET, and Py-FT-IR) and applied for direct production of hexyl levulinate from glucose. Among these catalysts, 40Zn/DFNS_U exhibited the best results for the production of hexyl levulinate with 55.2% yield under optimum reaction conditions (0.05 g catalyst, 0.07 g glucose, reaction temperature of 200 °C and reaction time of 5 h). Also, the catalytic performance of Zn/DFNS_H catalysts with different zinc values was studied under optimum reaction conditions and the maximum yield of hexyl levulinate was 59.2% in the presence of 40Zn/DFNS_H catalyst.