Public Thesis defense - IMCN

Upgrading of glycerol to solketal over metal-impregnated silicates via tuning of the hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance by Hussein HUSSEIN

Pour l’obtention du grade de Docteur en sciences

The attention paid nowadays to the production of biomass-based products such as biodiesel has led to an oversupply of glycerol. One of the relevant paths for the conversion of glycerol into a value-added chemical is represented by its acetalization with acetone to yield solketal in presence of efficient heterogeneous catalysts represented by metal-substituted mesoporous materials.

The aim of this doctoral project is to synthesize and extensively characterize novel categories of mesoporous metal-impregnated silicates embedding Ga, Nb and Sn inserted as single-site in the silica matrix, displaying a combination of Lewis and/or Brønsted acidity. In an attempt to modulate and improve the catalytic activity of these catalysts, the possibility of controlling the surface hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance as well as the strength and concentration of acid sites has been employed as a tool for the catalytic evaluation of the mesoporous catalysts in the context of glycerol conversion. The importance of these properties lies in determining the interaction of the active species with the support and influencing the active acid sites dispersion from one hand, and in mastering the interaction of the catalyst itself with the reactants/products. Besides, a systemic study is devoted in this research to synthesize new catalytic materials with more controlled characteristics defined as methyl functionalized metal-silicates. The control of surface polarity through surface functionalization appeared to be an efficient way to optimize the overall catalytic performance and to highlight the beneficial role of hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance in the course of the acetalization reaction.

Jury members : 

• Prof. Michel Devillers (UCLouvain), supervisor
• Prof. Carmela Aprile (Unit of Nanomaterials Chemistry, UNamur), supervisor
• Prof. Eric Gaigneaux (UCLouvain), chairperson
• Prof. Damien Debecker (UCLouvain), secretary
• Prof. Sophie Hermans (UCLouvain)
• Prof. Michiel Dusselier (Center of Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering, KULeuven, Belgium)
• Prof. Leonarda Liotta (CNR, Italy)

Pay attention :

The public defense of Hussein Hussein scheduled for Monday 17 May at 9:30 a.m will take place in the form of a video conference Teams

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