Catalytic Behaviors of Expansible Graphite in the Synthesis of Butyl Acetate

The catalysis of expandable graphite EG for esterification has beenstudied. EG was prepared with KMnO4 as oxidant and H2SO4 as insertingreagent. Eexpanded volumex-ray diffraction and energy dispersive analysisfor EG were carried, and its catalytic activity was detected in the reaction ofacetic acid with butanol. Influence of mole ratio of butanol and acetic acid,dosage of EG on ester yield were optimumed single factor experiments. Thesuitable esterification condition is: molar ratio of butanol to acetic acid keeps1.6:1.0, mass of EG keeps 9.0% of the total mass of reactants; reaction keepingup 1.0 h at the boling point, and esterification rate of 98.2% can be achieved.The reuse ester yield is 86.6% for first reuse and 61.2% for the second reuse