title: Functionalized carbon nanofibers as solid-acid catalysts for transesterification.
abstract: Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were functionalized with aryl sulfonic acid groups using in situ diazonium coupling. The use of diazonium coupling yielded an acidic carbon material, in which the introduced acidic groups are readily accessible to the triglyceride substrate. The material is an efficient catalyst for the transesterification of triolein and methanol, outperforming conventional sulfonated carbons in both stability and activity per acid site. Upon comparing CNFs with varying degrees of functionalization, a linear correlation between sulfonic acid sites and catalytic performance was found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG, Utrecht (The Netherlands).
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Stellwagen
authors.forename: Frits
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: van der Klis
authors.forename: Daan S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: van Es
authors.forename: Krijn P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Johannes H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bitter
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry; D004951:Esterification; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013343:Styrenes / Q000737:chemistry; D013451:Sulfonic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D013343:Styrenes; D013451:Sulfonic Acids; C528218:amberlyst-15; D002244:Carbon; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: electron microscopy; heterogeneous catalysis; nanostructures; synthetic methods; transesterification