In this work, it was described the preparation and the characterization of a solid acid catalyst obtained by the mixture of Cr/Al oxides (CRAL). The catalyst was tested in the transesterification reaction of babassu oil with 5% of free fatty acid (FFA). The results of textural and acidity characteristics of CRAL were: area (56 m2 g-1), pore size (7.0 µm), total acidity (182.28 µmol g-1), wherein Brönsted sites are the most active. Powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) show three phases of the catalyst (Cr2O3/Na2Cr2O3/Al2O3), 0.25:0.25:0.50, respectively. The reaction reached conversion about 98.6% under the conditions: alcohol/oil molar ratio (24:1), catalyst to oil mass ratio of 3.0%, 15 h and 70 ºC. The turnover frequency (TOF) found was 24.5 × 10-4 s-1. Kinetic of the reaction was researched over a temperature range of 60-80 ºC. A pseudo first-order model was proposed with the activation energy (Ea) of 49.18 kJ mol-1. CRAL is active in the biodiesel production for just one cycle, because in the second one it loses its activity. The leaching of catalyst is about 13%, demonstrating that the catalyst is not totally heterogeneous.

Glicerol, um sub-produto da produção de biodiesel, pode reagir com ácidos di-carboxílicos, resultando em poliésteres, e ser usado na composição de resinas do tipo uréia/formaldeído ou fenol/formaldeído para melhorar as qualidades de aderência e resistência à umidade dessas resinas. Neste trabalho, foram sintetizados seis tipos de resinas derivadas do glicerol, sendo nomeadas GAA (glicerol/ácido adípico), GAAU (glicerol/ácido adípico/uréia), GAF (glicerol/ácido ftálico), GU (glicerol/uréia), GUF (glicerol/uréia/formaldeído) e GF (glicerol/formaldeído). As resinas derivadas dos ácidos carboxílicos tiveram melhor estabilidade térmica (até 350 ºC) do que as resinas derivadas do formaldeído (até 200 ºC). As massas moleculares médias das resinas foram determinadas por espectrometria de massas por tempo de vôo acoplada à ionização dessortiva de matriz por laser (MALDI-TOF MS) e cromatografia de permeação em gel (GPC), e encontram-se na faixa de 1800-2800 Da, sendo portanto, oligômeros, e os índices de polidispersão no intervalo de 1,3 a 1,8. As técnicas de ressonância magnética nuclear (NMR) de ¹H e 13C foram usadas para identificar as estruturas das resinas.

Glycerol, a by-product from biodiesel production can react with di-carboxylic organic acids, resulting in polyesters, and can be used in the composition of urea/formaldehyde or phenol/formaldehyde resins to improve the qualities of adhesion and moisture resistance of them. In this work, six kinds of resins derived from glycerol, named as GAA (glycerol/adipic acid), GAAU (glycerol/adipic acid/urea), GAF (glycerol/phtalic acid), GU (glycerol/urea), GUF (glycerol/urea/formaldehyde) and GF (glycerol/formaldehyde), were synthesized. The resins derived from carboxylic acids had better thermal stability (up to 350 ºC) than those derived from formaldehyde (up to 200 ºC). The average molecular weights of the resins were determined by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), and are in the range of 1800-2800 Da, being oligomers, and the polydispersity indexes are in the range of 1.3 to 1.8. The ¹H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques were used to identify the structure of the resins.