High activity ordered mesoporous carbon-based solid acid catalyst for the esterification of free fatty acids

• Glucose glycerol solution was used as carbon precursor for OMC synthesis.
• Concentrated H2SO4 (98%) was used as sulfonation reagent.
• Various synthesis conditions were systematically investigated.
• The catalysts exhibit uniform mesopore, high acid density and good hydrophobicity.
• The catalysts show good activity and stability for the pre-esterification of FFAs.

Sulfonated mesoporous carbon catalysts were synthesized using a carbonization–sulfonation method and employed to the pre-esterification of free fatty acids contained in high acid value oil. Various synthesis parameters, such as composition of carbon precursor, carbonization and sulfonation temperature, were systematically investigated. The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption, small angle XRD, HRTEM, FT-IR and strong acid density analysis. The results indicated that they have a high surface area, uniform pore size, large mesopore volume, high acid density and good catalytic activity. Among them, MC600-S160 exhibited a highest activity and good stability for the esterification of FFA with methanol, the FFA conversion reached 94.6% after reaction for 3 h.

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