DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1517-7076-RMAT-2022-0244 Corresponding Author: Ana Luíza Freitas Ferreira Received on 29/09/2022 Accepted on 28/12/2022 Methods for Pt-WO 3 /SBA-15 materials synthesis for glycerol conversion Ana Luíza Freitas Ferreira 1 , Kimberly Paim Abeyta 1 , Jordan Gonzaga Andrade Batista Silva 1 , Ronaldo Costa Santos 1,2,3 , Luiz Antônio Magalhães Pontes 2 1 Universidade Federal da Bahia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Química. Rua Professor Aristídes Novis, 2, Federação, 40210-630, Salvador, BA, Brasil. 2 Instituto Brasileiro de Tecnologia e Regulação. Av. Tancredo Neves, 2131, Caminho das Árvores, 41820-021, Salvador, BA, Brasil. 3 Centro Universitário Jorge Amado, Departamento de Engenharia. Av. Luís Viana Filho, 6775, Trobogy, 41730-101, Salvador, BA, Brasil. e-mail: analuizafreitasf@gmail.com, kimberlypaim@hotmail.com, jordangonzaga@hotmail.com, ronaldo.ead@gmail.com, uolpontes@uol.com.br ABSTRACT Glycerol has applications as a raw material in diferent industrial processes, however, its supply exceeds demand. An alternative to increase the added value of this feedstock is its conversion into high added-value chemical products through dehydration and hydrogenation reactions, from which 1,2-PDO and 1,3-PDO can be obtained. To develop catalysts that increase the conversion and selectivity of these processes, materials of 2% Pt and 10% WO 3 supported on SBA-15 were studied. Two methods were used for incipient wetness impregnation: sequential impregnation, with impregnation steps for each species, and co-impregnation, with a single impregnation step for both species. From the analysis of XRD, XRF, N 2 isotherms, SEM, EDS, FTIR, and pyridine FTIR spectroscopy, it was possible to observe the infuence of these methods on the structural and textural properties. It was verifed that the co-impregnation provided a better dispersion of the WO 3 species on the surface of the SBA-15 and that the reduction process, for both methodologies employed, showed an improvement in the metallic dispersion. The better dispersion of WO 3 species also resulted in a greater formation of Brønsted acid sites for the co-impregnation method, with a predominance of Lewis sites in the structure of the catalysts obtained by both methods. Keywords: Glycerol; SBA-15; wetness impregnation; mesoporous material. 1. INTRODUCTION Glycerol is a raw material used in the production of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cosmetics, and food, and, in 2021, it reached a trade of about 4 million tons and US$ 2.7 billion [1, 2]. It is the main by-product of the trans- esterifcation reaction of fatty acids for the production of biodiesel and is widely available on the market and has a low commercial value (around US$ 300–500/t in 2021) [3–5]. The transformation of glycerol into new products with higher added value can improve its economy, as well as that of biodiesel. Dehydration of glycerol, followed by hydrogenation (hydrogenolysis), leads to products such as 1,2-PDO and 1,3-PDO with wide appli- cation in the market [6]. 1,3-PDO has applications in the production of cosmetics, cleaning products, adhesives, solvents, and resins, and in the pharmaceutical, food, and textile industries, with emphasis on the production of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) and polyurethane (PU) [7, 8]. While 1,2-PDO has applications ranging from the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries, to the manufacture of additives in paints, with emphasis on the production of unsaturated polyester resins [9, 10]. The synthesis of a catalyst for these reactions is a current challenge in materials, as diferent variables infu- ence the preparation of the support and the active phases that catalyze the reactions of interest. The choice of mate- rials for support synthesis and methods of deposition of metallic phases on the surface is fundamental to obtaining an active and selective catalyst that can be commercially applied in the transformation of glycerol [11, 12]. In the hydrogenolysis reaction, the study of these materials is essential due to the complexity of their mechanism, which involves a series of competitive and sequential reactions, with the desired route depending on the characteristics of the catalyst and the reaction conditions applied in the industrial process (Figure 1). Sequential reactions lead to loss of yield, resulting in unwanted products such as 1-propanol, 2-propanol and propane. In addition, the carbon- carbon bonds can be broken, generating ethylene glycol, methanol, ethanol, methane and ethane [13, 14].