A Highly Active, Readily Synthesized and Easily Separated Graphene Oxide (GO)/Polyethersulfone (PES) Catalytic Membrane for Biodiesel Production

Abstract

Heterogeneous acidic catalysts offer many advantages such as lower corrosion, easier separation and lower production cost compared with homogeneous sulfuric acid. Graphene oxide (GO) containing trace amount of oxygen-containing functional groups have been demonstrated to be effective carbon-based solid acid catalyst. However, GO are difficult to be recovered from liquid reaction system for further utilization. Graphene oxide/Polyethersulfone (PES) catalytic membranes were prepared and employed as heterogeneous acid catalysts in the esterification of oleic acid with methanol for biodiesel production. The membrane was annealed at different temper-atures to promote the catalytic activity and reusability. As predicted, the OA conversion increased greatly with the increase of GO content in the membrane. Both internal and external diffusion have no influence on the catalytic activity. The catalytic membrane dosage, reaction temperature and methanol/oleic acid molar ratio affected its catalytic performance significantly. Among all the prepared membranes, the membrane annealed at 150°C exhibited the best catalytic performance, with a conversion of over 85 % even after six cycles.

Porous Membrane Reactors for Liquid-Phase Heterogeneous Catalysis

“…The design and preparation of high-performance catalytic membranes are key for contactor-type membrane reactors. − Compared with suspended catalysts, the largest limitation of catalytic membranes is the low content of active components per unit volume of the membrane, which limits the practical application of catalytic membranes. Therefore, determining how to increase the loading of active components in catalytic membranes and improve the catalytic efficiency of the active components have become a popular research topic of catalytic membranes. , In recent years, researchers have mainly conducted research on the membrane configuration, , preparation methods, and membrane surface modification , to increase the loading of active components, strengthen the binding between the active components and the membrane, and improve the uniformity of active components on the membrane, thereby improving the catalytic efficiency of the catalytic membrane.…”

Fuel production using membrane reactors: a review

“…It was concluded that the PACCMs demonstrated a good catalytic activity and stability, and that it could withstand lower that 3 wt% water or lower than 1.5 wt% free fatty acid in the feedstock resulting in a conversion greater than 90%. Tian et al (2020) prepared graphene oxide/polyethersulphone (PES) catalytic membranes, as heterogeneous acid catalysts, in the esterification of oleic acid (OA) with methanol, to produce biodiesel. The membrane was annealed at various temperatures to stimulate the catalytic activity and reusability.…”

Chitosan‐Modified Polyvinyl Alcohol Membrane High Performance in Biodiesel/Methanol Pervaporation Separation

“…Global energy demand continues to increase with rapid economic development and population growth, which has led to a decrease in fossil fuels and an addition in ecological issues. [1,2] Considering that fossil fuels are not reusable and generate certain pollution to the environment, sustainable alternative green technologies have entered people's sight. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) is considered to become an alternative energy source to fossil fuels due to their superior performance.…”