Synthesis of glycerol carbonate from dimethyl carbonate and glycerol using CaO derived from eggshells

Abstract

Waste eggshell is proposed as a highly active catalyst for glycerol carbonate production from dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and glycerol. The effect of reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst loading on the reaction performance were investigated in order to find a suitable operating condition. CaO derived from waste eggshell exhibits catalytic activity comparable to commercial CaO. By using CaO eggshell, glycerol conversion of 96% can be achieved within 90 min of reaction time under 2.5:1 feed molar ratio of DMC to glycerol, 0.08 mole ratio of CaO to glycerol and reaction temperature of 60°C. The catalyst was examined by XRD, TGA/DSC, SEM, N2 adsorption-desorption and Hammett indicators method. Utilization of eggshell as a catalyst for glycerol carbonate production not only provides a cost-effective and value-added of waste eggshell as a green catalyst, but also decrease amount of waste and its treatment cost which is ecologically friendly.