Enzymatic reactive distillation (ERD) presents a compelling strategy for sustainable chemical processes, integrating reaction and separation steps with enzymatic biocatalysis. However, challenges persist in immobilizing biocatalysts like Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) on distillation internals due to poor adhesion and limited mechanical stability of coatings on metallic structures. Only wire gauze packings have been investigated in ERDs so far due to these limitations. This study investigates the functionalization of novel distillation packings, such as 3D-printed Tetra Spline structures and open-cell aluminum foams, with the sol–gel dip-coating method. To overcome adhesion issues, a silane-based primer containing (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) was employed. The use of this primer significantly improved the adhesion between the xerogel and metallic structures, marking one of the first applications of this technique in the field of heterogeneous (bio)catalysis. The xerogel-coated packings were characterized structurally via X-ray tomography and SEM, and catalytic performances were investigated with the enantioselective transesterification of 2-pentanol and ethylbutyrate. A Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetic model was successfully developed, demonstrating a mean absolute percentage error of 4.56%. Hydrodynamic and separation performances of the packings were also evaluated, with HETP values ranging from 0.21 to 0.3 m that further confirm their suitability for ERD applications.
Chaussard et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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