Last July 7, 2022, took place the defense act of the doctoral thesis of Ms. Laura Aguado Deblas entitled 'Study of heterogeneous acid catalysts for obtain oxygenated additives from biomass and their application in combustion engines' with the qualification of Sobresaliente Cum Laude.
The thesis was developed in the laboratories of the Organic chemistry & Catalysis research group at the Department of Organic Chemistry of the University of Cordoba, under the supervision of Dra. Felipa M. Bautista and Dr. Rafael C. Estevez-Toledano.
Congratulations Laura !!!
The Doctoral Thesis covers the synthesis and characterization of acidic catalysts with different structural and textural properties, and their application in the etherification reaction of glycerol with tert-butyl alcohol, in order to obtain the di- and tri-ethers (high ethers), which are used as oxygenated additives for fuels. In addition, dimethyl carbonate has been evaluated as a renewable solvent to reduce the high viscosity of castor oil and sunflower oil (as a reference for waste cooking oils) and obtain, thus, suitable second-generation biofuels for use in current diesel engines.
In addition to the aforementioned, silica-based materials functionalized with acid and/or basic groups were synthesized during a 3-month stay at the "Istituto per lo study dei Materiali Nanostrutturati (ISMN) del Dipartimento di scienze chimiche e tecnologie dei materiali (DSCTM) del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)" located in Palermo (Italy). These materials will be tested in biomass transformation reactions, which require these centers, to obtain value-added chemicals for Fine and Industrial Chemistry, such as oxygenated additives for fuels, among them.
Publications directly related to the thesis:
- "Sulfonated carbons from olive stones as catalysts in the microwave-assisted etherification of glycerol with tert-butyl alcohol", Molecular Catalysis, 488 (2020) 110921;
- "Sulfonated organosilica-aluminum phosphates as useful catalysts for acid-catalyzed reactions: Insights into the effect of synthesis parameters on the final catalyst" Catalysis Today, 390-391 (2022) 12-21;
- “Evaluation of dimethyl carbonate as alternative biofuel. Performance and smoke emissions of a diesel engine fueled with diesel/dimethyl carbonate/straight vegetable oil triple blends” Sustainability, 13(4) (2021) 1749;
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