In this work, different metal oxides containing Ti, Zr and Al were prepared and characterized and their catalytic activities for cracking, transesterification, and hydroesterification reactions of soybean oil were evaluated. It is described the synthesis of the solids by co-precipitation, and their characterization by thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface area determination, Fourier-transformed Raman spectroscopy, and the determination of Lewis and Brønsted acid sites by pyridine adsorption and detection through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The hydrocarbons obtained by soybean pyrolysis were analyzed by fractional distillation, acid number, FTIR, density (at 20 °C), viscosity (at 40 °C), and calculation of the cetane number. The results suggest that all of the solids exhibit catalytic activity at the second stage of the cracking reaction (deoxygenation), lowering the final acidity of the products. The solids also exhibited catalytic activity for transesterification and hydroesterification of triacylglycerides, leading to good yields in methyl fatty acid esters.

Neste estudo a celulose obtida da palha de feijão foi utilizada para produzir um material hidrofóbico (acetato de celulose) para ser avaliado como absorvente de óleo. Nas reações de acetilação foram utilizados anidrido acético e dois catalisadores, a piridina (PY) e N-bromossuccinimida (NBS). Os materiais produzidos foram caracterizados por espectroscopia na região do infravermelho médio, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, difratometria de raios-X e análise elementar. O NBS mostrou-se mais eficiente que a PY e, seu uso resultou em materiais com maiores quantidades de grupos acetatos, mais hidrofóbicos e com maiores capacidades de absorção de óleo de soja.

In this work, cellulose from beans straw was used to produce a more hydrophobic material (cellulose acetate) for use as oil absorbent. Acetic anhydride was used in the reactions with two catalysts, pyridine (PY) and N-bromosuccinimide (NBS). The materials produced were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and elemental analysis. NBS proved more efficient than PY, with the resulting materials containing higher number of acetate groups, being more hydrophobic and with higher capacity to absorb soybean oil.

In this work sulfated zirconia (SZr) and activated carbon/SZr composites produced by impregnation method with or without heating treatment step (CABC/SZr-I and CABC/SZr-I SC) and by the method of synthesis of SZr on the carbon (CABC/SZr-S) was used as catalysts in the esterification reactions of fatty acids. The SZr presented very active, conversions higher than 90% were obtained after 2 h of reaction. The activity of the composite CABC/SZr-I20%SC was up to 92%, however, this was directly related to time and temperature reactions. CABC/SZr-I and CABC/SZr-S were less active in esterification reactions, what could be attributed to its low acidity