CONVERSION OF GLUCOSE TO LEVULINIC ACID BY Fe/CARBON NANOPARTICLE CATALYST SYNTHESIZED FROM LUBRICANT OIL AND FERROCENE

Currently, production of levulinic acid which is one of promising chemical substances derived from biomass has been intensively investigated. Different catalyst types have been employed to produce levulinic acid from glucose including zeolite, metal phosphate and alumina. However, carbon based catalysts with high thermal stability, ease of surface functionalization and acid-base resistance were not widely studied. In this thesis, carbon nanoparticles synthesized from lubricant oil and ferrocene via co-pyrolysis was fully studied for glucose conversion to levulinic acid. The effect of carbon nanoparticles acid treatment was mainly investigated in terms of glucose conversion and levulinic acid yield. Pristine magnetic carbon nanoparticles (M-CNPs) achieved high glucose conversion of 97.58% (by mole) and fructose yield of 26.98% (by mole). However, none of levulinic acid product could be observed after reaction. On the other hand, the acid treated M-CNPs showed 66.29% (by mole) of glucose conversion and 19.52% (by mole) of levulinic acid yield without detectable fructose product after reaction. The increase of operating temperature from 140oC to 220oC led to the decrease of levulinic acid yield due to the effect of other side reactions. In addition, the optimal condition for levulinic acid production from glucose was obtained at 0.900 g (0.2M) of glucose, 0.024 g of acid-treated M-CNPs, 180 oC of operating temperature.