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In the present work, a novel cellulose-based porous heterogeneous solid acid catalyst encapsulation of ferriferous oxide (Fe3O4) and sulfonated graphene (GO-SO3H) into cellulose to form composite porous microspheres catalyst (GO-SO3H/CM@Fe3O4)　was synthesized and evaluated for biodiesel production from Pistacia chinensis seed oil. The SEM, EDS and FTIR analysis revealed that the catalyst GO-SO3H/CM@Fe3O4 owned stronger active sites and GO-SO3H dispersed well in porous surface and inside of cellulose support. Under the optimum conditions, microwave-assisted transesterification process was carried out with the best catalyst amount, i.e. 5 wt% GO-SO3H/CM@Fe3O4 (weight ratio of GO-SO3H/cellulose), and conversion yield reached 94%. The prepared catalyst could be easily separated from reaction solution by extra magnetic field and reclaimed at least five runs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, magnetic composite graphene oxide/cellulose (GO/CM@Fe 3 O 4 ) microspheres were prepared as support material, which are cost-efficient, non-toxic and environmental friendly. The microspheres with higher adsorption capacity were further modified using triethylene tetramine (TETA), and H 3 PW 12 O 40 (HPW) was immobilized to form GO/CM-NH 2 @Fe 3 O 4 -HPW microspheres as heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production. The novel heterogeneous catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). For the first time, GO/CM-NH 2 @Fe 3 O 4- -HPW was applied in the transesterification of highly-acidic Pistacia chinensis seed oil to biodiesel. Under optimal reaction conditions 80 °C, methanol/oil molar ratio 12:1, catalyst 15 wt% (w/w of oil) for 8 h, a 94% biodiesel yield was achieved. The heterogeneous catalyst could be easily separated from the reaction system by using magnetic field and efficiently recycled for at least six times. This novel procedure overcomes the disadvantages of the current catalyst support such as active site leaching, complicated preparation process and high costs. Therefore, it was a potential novel heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]