A carbon-based solid acid catalyst was prepared by incomplete carbonization of H 3 PO 4 -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 -SO 3 H groups. Previous impregnation with H 3 PO 4 could promote porosity formation of the catalyst. The optimized carbonization temperature and time for the catalyst were 250°C and 1.5 h. The -SO 3 H 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°C without decomposition. The catalyst retained satisfactory catalytic activity for transesterification of methyl acetate after 8 reaction cycles.
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