Eco-friendly synthesis of valuable fuel bio-additives from glycerol

The drastic surplus of glycerol resulting from biodiesel production requires an effective catalytic valorization to ensure biodiesel industry's sustainability. Herein, a series of highly crystalline ZrO2 with mesopore structure were prepared via the inverse micelle technique. Under mild conditions, meso-ZrO2 showed good stability and selectivity to 1,3-dioxane larger than 50% in the solvent-free glycerol acetalization with aldehydes. The performance was attributed to the high surface area and Lewis acidity. We believe that the green application of meso-ZrO2 catalysts for the sustainable acetalization of glycerol herein reported might be easily extended to other bio-based industrial processes.