Simple fabrication of magnetically separable mesoporous carbon sphere with excellent catalytic performance for biodiesel production

Considering the problem of separation of carbon-based powder solid acid, facile separation of solid acid shows the superiority for recycling. A novel and magnetically separable mesoporous carbon sphere (MMCS-SO3H) solid acid catalyst was prepared by sulfonation of y-Fe2O3 nanoparticle composited mesoporous carbon sphere with organic sulfonic acid. The results of N-2 adsorption-desorption technology and electron microscopy show that this MMCS-SO3H solid acid owns superior mesoporous structure and uniform spherical morphology. The solid acid possesses high acidity of 1.73 mmol H+/g and SO3H density of 1.08 mmol/g, which favor this solid acid exhibiting satisfactory catalytic property for the esterification of oleic acid. The influences of reaction temperature and molar ratio of MeOH/OA on catalytic performance of catalyst were also systematically investigated. In addition, the carbon-based solid acid exhibited excellently catalytic stability and recycling property. (C) 2015 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.