Sustainable synthesis of levulinic acid using waste derived silica-alumina-hydroxyapatite supported nano ZrO2 photo-acidic catalyst under synergistic UV-FIR irradiations

A novel nano-photocatalyst has been prepared using hydroxyapatite (HAp) derived from waste fish scale and fly ash-derived aluminosilicate (SiO2-Al2O3) grafted with zirconium oxide (ZrO2) active sites by innovative photo-hydrothermal protocol. The physiochemical properties of the prepared photocatalyst have been characterized by different analyses like TGA, XRD, FTIR, XPS, UV–VIS–NIR, BET, NH3-TPD, HRTEM, and DLS. The optimal catalyst has a zirconium loading of 20 wt% and has a low bandgap energy of 2.15 eV as confirmed by UV–VIS–NIR spectroscopy. The optimal catalyst also depicted a high acidity of 1.52 mmol NH3/g and a specific surface area of 62.872 m²/g. Owing to the high acidity, specific surface area, and low band gap energy the photocatalyst has led to achieving an elevated yield of 76.6% levulinic acid (LA) from glucose in hybrid irradiation reactor (HIR) deploying UV and FIR radiations at appreciably low temperature and reaction time of 115 ℃ and 2 h respectively. Under the same reaction conditions, the conventionally heated reactor (CHR) gave a very low yield of 23.7%. Individual radiation effects on LA yield evinced the synergistic advantageous effect of the hybrid irradiation technique. The catalyst reusability and regenerative study confirmed the high stability of the prepared catalyst. Also, a comparative LCA study has been conducted between HIR and CHR systems which revealed that HIR was more environmentally sustainable than CHR. HIR -based process demonstrated a reduction in 59% global warming potential, 70.66% forest resource scarcity, and 65% lower terrestrial ecotoxicity while being 120% more energy efficient than CHR-based reaction making HIR more environmentally sustainable as well as economically feasible.