Study of Sorption Capacity of Zeolite Catalysts to Glycerol by Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry

This work presents the results of the study of glycerol and water sorption using two complimentary approaches, simultaneous thermal analysis and isothermal sorption calorimetry, on zeolites differing in the framework topology and post modifications (natural clinoptilolite, protonated zeolite ZSM-5 with Si/Al ratio of 50, commercial Na-mordenite with Si/Al ratio of 6.5 then modified by ion exchange for copper ions, or by alkaline etching to develop mesoporosity, and pillared mordenite). For the studied mordenites a correlation between texture and composition and sorption capacity towards glycerol and water was shown. Analysis of glycerol and water desorption suggests the optimal temperature range for catalytic conversion of glycerol via dehydration and carboxylation.