Selective glycerol oxidation to glyceric acid under mild conditions using Pt/CeO2-ZrO2-Fe2O3/SBA-16 catalysts

Effective glyceric acid production from glycerol was demonstrated under mild conditions in an open-air system at room temperature in the absence of base or oxygen gas flow by employing a Pt/CeO 2 -ZrO 2 -Fe 2 O 3 /Santa Barbara Amorphous No. 16 (SBA-16) catalyst. At a low loading amount of CeO 2 -ZrO 2 -Fe 2 O 3 (16 wt%Ce 0.64 Zr 0.16 Fe 0.20 O 2−δ /SBA-16), the oxygen release and storage abilities and high acidity of the catalyst afforded a high glyceraldehyde yield, owing to the enhancement of the oxidation ability of the Pt activator and the acceleration of the desorption of glyceraldehyde. The increase in CeO 2 -ZrO 2 -Fe 2 O 3 loading amount further improved the oxygen release and storage abilities and lowered the catalyst acidity induced by crystallite growth and particle aggregation. The high oxygen release and storage abilities, as well as the low acidity, contributed to the high glyceric acid yield; the highest activity for glyceric acid production was obtained for the 7 wt%Pt/40 wt%Ce 0.64 Zr 0.16 Fe 0.20 O 2−δ /SBA-16 catalyst. The glyceric acid yield increased up to 68.2% after 10 h of reaction in atmospheric air at 30°C.