Oxidation of Glycerol in Base-Free Aqueous Solution Using Carbon-Supported Pt and PtSn Catalyst

Abstract

In the present work, we studied the catalytic performance (activity and selectivity) of Pt supported on carbon systems and Pt modified with tin in the glycerol oxidation with H2O2 as the oxidising agent at atmospheric pressure, 60 °C, and base-free conditions. The glycerol conversion obtained with monometallic Pt catalyst was 37% and remained unchanged with the addition of Sn in a ratio Sn/Pt = 0.4. The two bimetallic PtSn catalysts were able to oxidise commercial glycerol to dihydroxyacetone (DHA), and the selectivity to DHA reached 97% for the bimetallic catalyst with better conversion. In the reaction with crude glycerol, the conversion obtained was around 40% for the three catalysts, and the major product observed was glyceric acid. Both dihydroxyacetone and glyceric acid are high added value products with potential applications in different areas such as organic chemistry, medical and cosmetics industries.