Abstract
Hyper-crosslinking polymers and its immobilized acid ionic liquid catalyst were prepared using cheap pitch, as a monomer, through hyper-crosslinking reactions and allyl chloride, as a chlorine source, for chloromethylation and further grafting with imidazole and functionalizing with sulfonic acid. The polymers were characterized by FE-SEM, FTIR, TG, and nitrogen sorption. The grafting ratios of the chloromethylated pitch-based hyper-crosslinked polymer (HCPpitch–CH2–Cl) and immobilized acid ionic liquid [HCPpitch–Im–Pros][Tos] were 3.5 mmol/g and 3.0 mmol/g, and the BET specific surface areas were 520 m2/g and 380 m2/g, respectively. This strategy provides an easy approach to preparing highly stable and acid functionalized mesoporous catalysts. The immobilized acidic ionic liquid was used as a catalyst for the esterification of oleic acid and methanol to synthesize biodiesel. The results demonstrated that under the optimal conditions of an alcohol to acid molar ratio of 7:1, ionic liquid to oleic acid molar ratio of 0.12, and a reaction time of 3 h at atmospheric pressure, the yield of methyl oleate can reach up to 93%. Moreover, the catalyst was reused five times without the yield decreasing significantly. This study shows that [HCPpitch–Im–Pros][Tos] is a robust catalyst for the synthesis of biodiesel.
Highlights
Due to the ongoing depletion of fossil fuel resources and serious environmental pollution, it is crucial to find a clean and renewable energy source [1,2]
The results show that it is a robust catalyst for synthesis of biodiesel
These results indicate that the target [HCPpitch–Im–Pros][Tos] catalyst was obtained through the preparation
Summary
Due to the ongoing depletion of fossil fuel resources and serious environmental pollution, it is crucial to find a clean and renewable energy source [1,2]. There is an urgent need to research and develop economical and adaptable catalyst [5] Motivated by these factors, ionic liquids are widely used in the catalytic synthesis of biodiesel due to the fact of their designable functional groups and the resulting acid–base adjustability. Ionic liquids are widely used in the catalytic synthesis of biodiesel due to the fact of their designable functional groups and the resulting acid–base adjustability Shortcomings, such as the high viscosity, result in slower diffusion mass transfer and difficulty in separation and recycling which greatly limit their industrial applications [6,7].
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