Mono Lacunary Phosphotungstate Loaded Zeolite HY For the Esterification of Levulinic and Succinic Acid Into Fuel Additives

The legal obligation to swiftly adopt renewable energies has been increased because of the continuous usage of fossil fuels. In this perspective, biomass serves as a pillar to improve the current conditions over different heterogeneous catalysts due to their known advantages. This work is focused on the synthesis of a novel catalyst comprising mono lacunary phosphotungstate and zeolite HY. The catalyst was characterized by number of physicochemical techniques and evaluation of the activity of catalyst for the esterification of most promising bio platforms, levulinic acid and succinic acid to produce fuel additives. After a detailed optimization of both reactions, remarkable conversions of levulinic acid (77%) and succinic acid (96%) with turnover numbers of 2749 and 3427 respectively, were obtained. The order of the reaction and activation energy for the said reactions were calculated in the kinetic study. The sustainable nature of the catalyst was confirmed via regeneration and viability towards other bio-based molecules which enhances its industrial importance.