SO3H-modified petroleum coke derived porous carbon as an efficient solid acid catalyst for esterification of oleic acid

Abstract

A carbon-based solid acid catalyst was simply prepared from petroleum coke by chemical activation and subsequent sulfonation. The structure–function relationships of the solid acid catalyst were investigated by regulating activation temperature. The materials were characterized by nitrogen adsorption, SEM, XRD, FT-IR and element analysis. The catalytic performances of catalysts were evaluated by the esterification of oleic acid with methanol, which is a crucial reaction in the production of biodiesel. The solid acid catalyst activated at 800 °C exhibits the most excellent catalytic activity, which is attributed to its large surface area (851 m2/g) and high acid density (1.04 mmol/g). At the optimized conditions, high conversion (89.5 %) was achieved and no distinct activity drop was observed after five recycles. This work may offer a facile strategy to fabricate solid acid catalysts in large scale for green chemical processes.