TRATAMENTO DE SiO 2 PROVENIENTE DE DIFERENTES FONTES COM KF PARA A OBTENÇÃO DE CATALISADORES BÁSICOS COM ATIVIDADE NA REAÇÃO DE TRANSESTERIFICAÇÃO TREATMENT SiO 2 ARISING FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES WITH KF FOR OBTAINING BASIC CATALYST WITH ACTIVITY IN REACTION TRANSESTERIFICATION

There are many researches about the use of silicon dioxide (SiO 2) as support for heterogeneous catalysts. However, the main precursors of SiO 2 for the synthesis of catalysts (as TEOS - tetraeth oxysilane) are expensive, that implies the search for raw material s cheaper. In this context, several studies suggest the use of powdered glass and quartz as alternative sources of SiO 2. This work aimed to use different sources of SiO 2, crystalline, amorphous and powdered glass, and perf orm the impregnation with KF, for the development of new heterogeneous catalyst. The supports and catalysts were characterized by the techniques of BET, XRD and assays for determination of basicity. The catalysts were t ested in transesterification reactions. Among the c atalysts which had conversion, the powdered glass is a promising c atalyst, being effective and presenting more favora ble working conditions compared to amorphous and crystalline silica.