How Gold Can Recycle Biofuel Waste into Useful Additive

(Phys.Org/Tomsk Polytechnic University) Gold nanoparticles serve as catalysts for obtaining valuable chemical products based on glycerol. Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University and their international colleagues are developing gold catalysts to recycle one of the main byproducts of biofuel production. The obtained products are in high demand in medicine, agriculture, the cosmetics industry and other sectors.

Scientists from the University of Milano (Italy), the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry of Madrid (Spain) and the University of Porto (Portugal) took part in the study.

The research outcomes have been published in Current Organic Synthesis this May.

The authors of the research note that catalytic oxidation on gold is one of the most effective techniques to obtain from glycerol such useful products as aldehydes, esters, carboxylic acids and other substances.

"All these substances are products of fine organic chemistry and are in demand in a wide range of industries, particularly in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In agriculture, they are applied as part of different feed additives, veterinary drugs, fertilizers, plant treatment products, etc. Thus, unused glycerol after being processed will further be applied," says Alexey Pestryakov. READ MORE Abstract (Current Organic Synthesis)