Glycerol Oligomerization over Titania‐Based Catalyst Compositions

Abstract The possibility of using TiO 2 ‐based compositions: individual and sulfated titania, and their composites with carbon nanotubes as catalysts for glycerol oligomerization has been displayed. The effect of modification of TiO 2 with sulfur and carbon nanotubes on acid‐base and catalytic characteristics in the glycerol conversion was investigated. The activation of glycerol on the catalysts has been studied using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR) spectroscopy. Only the samples based on sulfated titania are active over glycerol transformation, showing up to 58.7 % conversion. This is explained by the presence of strong base sites. Glycerides up to pentaglycerides, both linear and nonlinear structure are formed by glycerol oligomerization over TiO 2 −S. The addition of nanotubes to the catalyst reduces both the glycerol conversion (up to 10.5 %) and the yield of glycerides. However, the spectrum of the resulting products is significantly narrowed, increasing the selectivity for short‐chain glycerides: the portion of diglycerides reaches 72 %, and triglycerides 21 %. Herewith, glycerides of a linear structure only formed.