SYNTHESIS OF CENOSPHERE SUPPORTED IRON CATALYST AND ITS APPLICATION ON ESTERIFICATION

Abstract: A cenosphere supported iron catalyst was prepared by well known wet impregnation method. The present paper emphasizes on the esterification of acetic acid with iso-butyl alcohol in a stirred batch reactor using synthesized heterogeneous catalyst, which is the key reaction in the esterification method. It has been found that the prepared catalyst exhibit high activity, selectivity and stability. Based on the design of experiment, reaction was performed at different concentration of ferric chloride (2%, 4%, 6% and 8%) and molar ratio of iso-butyl alcohol and acetic acid. The cenosphere supported iron catalyst has been synthesized and characterized by different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques including scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Prepared catalyst shows higher esterification efficiency than the conventional iron catalysts.