Heterogeneously Chemo/Enzyme-Functionalized Porous Polymeric Catalysts of High-Performance for Efficient Biodiesel Production

Abstract

Efficient transformation of renewable biomass into chemicals and biofuels, including liquid biomass-derived nonedible oils to biodiesel, is of great importance. Developing heterogeneously functional materials is being deemed as a subject of particular interest to scientists in selective catalytic chemistry especially for biomass valorization. In this regard, porous polymers, featuring high surface areas, prominent stabilities, and chemically adjustable moieties, have attracted extensive concerns. In this Review, recent developments on the application of heterogeneously functionalized porous polymeric catalysts of high performance, including acid/base chemosynthetic organic polymers/natural biodegradable biopolymers like chitosan, organic–inorganic hybrid polymeric materials such as functional porous coordination polymers, and porous polymers immobilized with enzymes for effective upgrading of oil feedstocks into biodiesel are summarized. Catalytic protocols using functional polymeric catalysts provide significant benefits for realizing biorefinery procedures because of the following reasons: (i) no polluting reagents, (ii) high activities and selectivities, and (iii) simple and convenient catalyst recycling. Attention has been drawn, in particular, to understanding the role of acidity/basicity, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, swelling property, and porosity of polymer materials in biodiesel production through transesterification and esterification reactions. In addition, plausible reaction mechanisms are also depicted accordingly, while highlighting the main remaining challenges and future prospects.

Heterogeneous Catalysis with the Participation of Ionic Liquids

“…Among the most interesting directions of their application is the capture of CO 2 and its cycloaddition to cyclic hydrocarbons and epoxides [120]. However, the possibilities of their applications are much wider both in chemical and enzymatic catalysis [141]. The above-presented examples of the applications of the systems are only selected ones and certainly do not exhaust all their possibilities.…”

Functionalized Metal-Organic Framework Catalysts for Sustainable Biomass Valorization

“…Numerous heterogeneous catalysts for the efficient conversion of biomass feedstocks into platform molecules and high-energy fuels have been explored [12,13]. Solid catalysts developed for biomass upgrading are commonly divided into four categories: (a) porous materials [14], (b) metal oxides [15][16][17], (c) immobilized metal nanoparticles, and (d) sulfonated materials [18,19].…”

Progress of Catalytic Valorization of Bio-Glycerol with Urea into Glycerol Carbonate as a Monomer for Polymeric Materials

“…It is worth noting that effective catalysis is usually demanded to generate monomers, to facilitate selective polymerizations and to enable recycling or upcycling of waste materials [13][14][15]. e increasing demands of biofuels and fuel additives, among which biodiesel has caused a considerable surplus of glycerol to the market that will create new threats in terms of their sustainable exploitation [16][17][18][19]. Stoichiometrically (Scheme 1), for the transesterification of triglycerides with methanol into biodiesel and glycerol, each tonne of biodiesel along with 100 kg of by-product crude glycerol are simultaneously generated [20,21].…”