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Epoxidized vegetable oils obtained from either edible or nonedible vegetable oil have drawn extensive attention ascribing to the inherent nature of good biodegradability, renewableness, nontoxicity, and environmental friendliness. It has a broad application in the chemical industry, e.g., biolubricants, polyurethane, cross-linked polymers, coatings, and biodiesel. Currently, it is produced industrially by a homogeneous epoxidation process using in situ formed peracarboxylic acid. However, this method gives poor selectivity toward epoxides and causes severe corrosion to reactors. Efficient and recyclable heterogeneous metal-based materials have become promising alternatives for vegetable oil epoxidation due to the good activity and selectivity in the absence of any corrosive acids. Hence, the development of highly active, selective, and stable heterogeneous catalysts for the epoxidation of vegetable oils and their derivatives has becoming a major task for both academic and industrial communities. In this work, we have reviewed and summarized the most recent progress of catalysts development in the aspects of catalysts preparation, morphology, reusability, structure–function relationship, and reaction mechanism in the past five years. The effects of solvent, oxidant, type of reactor, and operating conditions as well as the reaction kinetics will also be reviewed and discussed to provide guidance for the future study of vegetable oil epoxidation.
Yan et al. (Tue,) studied this question.