Synthesis of a Mesostructured, Acidic Aluminosilicate Using a Glycerol-Based Deep Eutectic Solvent and Its Catalytic Application for the Production of Fuel Additives

A glycerol-based deep eutectic solvent (G-DES) has been synthesized in the laboratory and applied to prepare aluminosilicate nanoparticles with improved acidity and porosity by adopting an ionothermal route. In the present work, the G-DES serves as a structure-directing agent and a pore-creating agent in the synthesis of aluminosilicates. It was observed that the physicochemical properties of the aluminosilicate prepared using G-DES are distinctly different from those of conventional aluminosilicates. The catalyst property–activity relationship has been established by studying the physicochemical properties of the catalyst using various characterization techniques like XRD, FTIR, NH3-TPD, HR-TEM, N2 adsorption–desorption, and NMR. The results obtained from various characterization techniques suggest that applying G-DES in the synthesis of aluminosilicates leads to the formation of a nanostructured material with hierarchical porosity and enhanced Lewis acidity. Further, the catalyst evaluation studies showed that the acidic aluminosilicate prepared using G-DES conferred exceptionally high catalytic performance for the acetalization of glycerol at room temperature compared with the conventional aluminosilicate. The catalyst showed good recyclability under the tested reaction conditions.