Authors : Anita Bhatia, Sarishti Sharma
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijpca.2019.013
Volume : 6
Issue : 3
Year : 2019
Page No : 63-68
This paper presents a study of the isobutanol based esterification of propionic acid with the synthesized solid acid catalyst (NAFA) at different temperature and reaction time. An efficient nano crystalline solid acid catalyst (NAFA) with crystallite size of 14 nm has been synthesized by F-type fly ash (SiO2 and Al2O3>70%) by chemical activation using concentrated HNO3 at 110ºC. The Catalyst was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and SEM techniques. Fly ash generated catalytic material has shown sufficient catalytic activity for esterification of propionic acid and isobutyl alcohol to give isobutyl propionate, which is widely used in food and beverage industries as a rum flavor. The catalyst was completely recyclable without significant loss in activity up to four reaction cycles, which confers its stability during reaction. The work reports an innovative use of solid waste fly ash as an effective solid acid catalyst.
Keywords: Fly ash, Chemical activation, Acid treatment, Esterification, Eco-friendly and Isobutyl propionate (RUM).