Green biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using an environmentally benign acid catalyst

•The sulfonated carbon catalyst can be used in biodiesel production from waste cooking oil.•The biodiesel yield of carbon catalyst was reached to 90%.•The sulfonated carbon catalyst is interest as an environmentally benign and low-cost catalyst.

The application of an environmentally benign sulfonated carbon microsphere catalyst for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil was investigated. This catalyst was prepared by the sequential hydrothermal carbonization and sulfonation of xylose. The morphology, surface area, and acid properties were analyzed. The surface area and acidity of the catalyst were 86 m2/g and 1.38 mmol/g, respectively. In addition, the presence of sulfonic acid on the carbon surface was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The catalytic activity was tested for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil via a two-step reaction to overcome reaction equilibrium. The highest biodiesel yield (89.6%) was obtained at a reaction temperature of 110 °C, duration time of 4 h, and catalyst loading of 10 wt% under elevated pressure 2.3 bar and 1.4 bar for first and second step, respectively. The reusability of the catalyst was investigated and showed that the biodiesel yield decreased by 9% with each cycle; however, this catalyst is still of interest because it is an example of green chemistry, is nontoxic, and makes use of xylose waste.

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