Abstract：Mesoporous silica spheres materials with different 3 D pore structure and properties were prepared, and a series of sulfonate silica microspheres solid acid was synthesized by sulfonated sulfonation method using these mesoporous silica spheres as supports. The physicochemical properties of those catalysts were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) , transmission electron microscopy (TEM) , and nitrogen adsorption/desorption. Using the esterification reaction of acetic acid and ethanol as probe, the effects of the sulfonated temperature and time on the activity of different structure catalysts were investigated. The results show that the morphology and pore structure of the silica microspheres are not changed after sulfonation. At the beginning of the sulfonation, the catalytic performance was governed by the pore structure of the support.Large pore size and open framework made the cellular structure silica microspheres (MCF) superior to other catalysts. With the extension of sulfonation time, the catalytic performance of the catalyst is determined by the surface area and worm-like mesoporous silica spheres solid acid with larger surface area had higher catalytic activities. The worm-like mesoporous silica spheres solid acid synthesized at 240 °C for 6 h with a load rate of6.51%, shows the best catalytic performance.

Keywords：mesoporous silica; microsphere; solid acid；pore structure; esterification reaction