Synthesis of sulfonated catalyst from bituminous coal to catalyze esterification for biodiesel production with promoted mechanism analysis

Abstract

The carbon-based heterogeneous acid catalyst is synthesized from bituminous coal through the partial carbonization and sulfonation method and applied to catalyze the esterification of oleic acid with methanol for biodiesel production. Various characterization methods are used to explain catalytic features and molecular simulation is conducted to analyze the promoted mechanism of acid catalyst in esterification. Carbon catalyst, prepared by partially carbonized at 350 °C and sulfonated at 105 °C, catalyzes esterification with biodiesel yield of 98.70%. Transition state analysis implies that acid catalyst reduces the activation energy through providing proton to promote esterification.