A Novel Solid Acid With Both Sulfonic And Carbonyl Acid Groups For Biodiesel Synthesis

The novel solid acid with both sulfonic and carbonyl acid groups has been synthesized through the copolymerization of 3-[(2-sulfoethoxy)carbonyl]acrylic acid and divinylbenzene (DVB). The catalytic activities were investigated through the transesterification of rapeseed oil. The results showed that the novel solid acid was very efficient for the biodiesel synthesis with the yield over 99% even for the rapeseed oil with high water content. Both the free fatty acid and triglyceride could be efficiently transformed to the biodiesel products, which indicated the novel solid acid could efficiently catalyzed the waste oils with high acidity. The high hydrophobic BET surface, low cost, and high acidity and catalytic activities gave the solid acid great potential for green chemical processes.