Efficient conversion of glycerol to 1,3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is the affirmation and guarantee of the feasible development of biodiesel industry, but the biocompatibility of catalyst must be considered due to the wide application of DHA in food and medicine industries. In this work, an environmentally benign biosynthesis approach with Syringa oblata Lindl. (SoL) leaf extract was employed to fabricate Au/CuO catalysts for the oxidation of glycerol to DHA. The biosynthesized SoL-Au/CuO catalysts were characterized and the effects of plant extracts concentration, gold loading, calcination temperature and reaction conditions on the catalytic performance were systematically analyzed. High catalytic performance with glycerol conversion rate of 95.7% and DHA selectivity of 77.9% can be attained under optimum conditions. This work provides the first example of preparing biocompatible catalyst for the thermal catalytic oxidation of glycerol to DHA, which can not only reach efficient conversion of glycerol and selectivity to DHA, but also is simple, green, environmentally friendly and promising.
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