Preparation and catalytic performance of a carbon-based solid acid catalyst with high specific surface area

A carbon-based solid acid catalyst was prepared by incomplete carbonization of H3PO4-impregnated pulp fibers followed by sulfonation. XRD, FT-IR, BET, TGA, and acid density test were employed to characterize the structure and performance of the catalyst. Results showed that the catalyst was amorphous carbon composed of aromatic carbon sheets with -COOH, -OH and -SO3H groups. Previous impregnation with H3PO4 could promote porosity formation of the catalyst. The optimized carbonization temperature and time for the catalyst were 250 A degrees C and 1.5 h. The -SO3H density and specific surface area for the catalyst prepared under the optimized conditions were 1.1 mmol g(-1) and 118 m(2) g(-1), respectively. Compared to HZSM-5, Amberlyst-15 and previous reported carbon catalysts, the catalyst showed higher catalytic activity for transesterification of methyl acetate with n-butanol as hydrophobic reaction. The catalyst had good thermal stability, which could bear 200 A degrees C without decomposition. The catalyst retained satisfactory catalytic activity for transesterification of methyl acetate after 8 reaction cycles.