Catalytically active membranes for esterification: A review

Esterification is an important process in the food industry and can be carried out via homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysis. The homogeneous catalyst, despite providing high conversion, can cause corrosion in reactors, which is not observed with the use of heterogeneous catalysts. However, some of these catalysts require a high process temperature and may lose their catalytic activity with reuse. Thus, catalytic membranes have been proposed as a promising alternative. The combination of catalysis and separation in a single module provides greater conversion, reduction of excess reagents, compact industrial plant, making the process more efficient. Within this context, this work aims to present a literature review on the catalytic membrane for the synthesis of esters, improving the understanding of the production and development. This review examines the materials, catalysts used, and synthetic pathways. A comparison between the methods, as well as limitations and gaps in the literature, are highlighted.