The formation of a hydrothermal carbon coating on graphite microfiber felts for using as structured acid catalyst

A hydrothermal carbon layer has been coated on graphite felt using a carbohydrate solution (glucose, sucrose or starch) as precursor. The coating is uniform in thickness and coverage, and exhibits excellent adhesion to the substrate. It is highly hydrophilic, very accessible to reactants and the thickness can be tuned by the synthesis conditions. The coating was functionalized with sulfonic acid groups and its morphology and surface chemistry characterized by SEM, TPO-MS, IR-spectroscopy and XPS. The sulfonated material has been tested in the esterification of palmitic acid with methanol exhibiting significant activity and stability.