Sulfonic-acid-functionalized activated carbon from coriander powder as green catalyst for the esterification and transesterification
摘要
The activated carbon was synthesized from coriander powder with the activating agent potassium carbonate by a one-step method. The obtained activated carbon was functionalized with ClSO3H to form the sulfonic acid functionalized activated carbon. To confirm the sulfonation, the material was studied by Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS). The SEM–EDS results clearly indicate the functionalization of SO3H on activated carbon. Furthermore, the shifting of the XRD peak from 2θ = 23.44° and 43.11° to 25.30° indicates that SO3H functionalization. The catalyst showed good catalytic movement for the esterification of free fatty acids at 60 °C and transesterification of various oils such as olive, sesame, canola, soybean, coconut, and corn oils at 70 °C. In addition, the catalyst is recyclable up to 4 cycles with 80% of yield, the decrease of yield is due to minimal loss of catalyst during separation, and it is easy to synthesize; the –SO3H on porous structures on activated carbon is a wide array of environmentally friendly methods.