Comparison of Catalytic Activity of ZIF-8 and Zr/ZIF-8 for Greener Synthesis of Chloromethyl Ethylene Carbonate by CO 2 Utilization

Bisi Olaniyan and Basudeb Saha
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Bisi Olaniyan: School of Engineering, London South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA, UK
Basudeb Saha: School of Engineering, London South Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA, UK

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-25

Abstract: The catalytic activity of both ZIF-8 and Zr/ZIF-8 has been investigated for the synthesis of chloromethyl ethylene carbonate (CMEC) using carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) under solvent-free conditions. Published results from literature have highlighted the weak thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability of ZIF-8 catalyst, which has limited its large-scale industrial applications. The synthesis of novel Zr/ZIF-8 catalyst for cycloaddition reaction of ECH and CO 2 to produce CMEC has provided a remarkable reinforcement to this weak functionality, which is a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of green and sustainable engineering. The enhancement in the catalytic activity of Zr in Zr/ZIF-8 can be attributed to the acidity/basicity characteristics of the catalyst. The comparison of the catalytic performance of the two catalysts has been drawn based on the effect of different reaction conditions such as temperature, CO 2 pressure, catalyst loading, reaction time, stirring speed, and catalyst reusability studies. Zr/ZIF-8 has been assessed as a suitable heterogeneous catalyst outperforming the catalytic activities of ZIF-8 catalyst with respect to conversion of ECH, selectivity and yield of CMEC. At optimum conditions, the experimental results for direct synthesis of CMEC agree well with similar literature on Zr/MOF catalytic performance, where the conversion of ECH, selectivity and the yield of CMEC are 93%, 86%, and 76%, respectively.

Keywords: ECH; epichlorohydrin; CMEC; chloromethyl ethylene carbonate; CO 2; carbon dioxide; MOF; metal organic framework; ZIF-8; zeolitic imidazolate framework; Zr/ZIF-8; zirconium/zeolitic imidazolate framework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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