Heterogeneous catalysts play a dual role in transesterification due to their advantages of being separable and reusable. In recent years, heterogeneous catalysts derived from renewable resources have received more attention. In this paper, the production of biodiesel from Xanthoceras sorbifolia bunge oil via transesterification was studied under the action of an ILe@Cu@MOF catalyst. Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman Spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Thermogravimetric (TG) and other characterization methods were used to characterize the microstructure and thermal stability of the catalyst and further study the ILe@Cu@MOF catalyst for the preparation of biodiesel from Xanthoceras sorbifolia bunge oil. The results show that the surface of the ILe@Cu@MOF catalyst is attached with a sheet-like structure of isoleucine (ILe), which mainly contains Cu, O, C and N elements. The specific surface area is 19.687 m²/g, and the average pore size is 31.74 nm, which belongs to mesoporous material. The pyrolysis temperature of ILe@Cu@MOF reached 360 °C, indicating that the grafting of ILe had a protective effect on Cu@MOF and increased the pyrolysis temperature of Cu@MOF. At the same time, the water contact angle increased from 86° to 121°, and the material was hydrophobic. The optimum conditions for the preparation of biodiesel were as follows: the amount of catalyst was 3 wt%, the molar ratio of methanol to oil was 35:1, the reaction temperature was 50 °C, and the reaction time was 4 h. At this time, the biodiesel yield was up to 82.85%. Moreover, after five cycles of ILe@Cu@MOF, the yield still reached 73.4%. GC–MS and MNR studies showed that the quality of biodiesel after catalysis was higher. The prepared catalyst can make biodiesel products more sustainable, environmentally friendly and economical, and can provide future prospects for the energy utilization of renewable resources.

Mineral oil-based lubricants contain harmful elements, such as sulfur and phosphorus, pose significant harm to the environment. In current research on the application of waste oils and fats in bio-based lubricants, most studies focus on single pretreatment processes or additive preparation, lacking systematic investigations into the combined use of composite pretreatment and additives on lubricant performance. Moreover, the decolorization efficiency of traditional physical adsorption methods for treating waste oils and fats is limited, making it difficult to meet the raw material requirements for bio-based lubricants. The purpose of this study is to conduct composite pretreatment processes on waste oils and fats, understand the impacts of parameters such as additive dosage and environmental factors on lubricant performance, establish an environmentally friendly and performance-compliant preparation process for bio-based lubricants, and provide a theoretical basis and technical support for its industrial application. Recent studies have shown that new decolorization processes for waste oil treatment significantly improve decolorization and recovery rates, as evidenced by research comparing new and traditional methods. Pretreatment with hydrogen peroxide, activated clay, and activated carbon significantly improved the color and odor of treated waste oil, meeting standards for bio-based lubricant production. The intercalation polymerization reaction between ethyl cellulose (EC) and montmorillonite (MMT) was employed to develop an additive (CTAB-MMT/KH560-EC). A thorough investigation was performed to analyze the impact of temperature, processing time, and additive concentration on the rheological behavior. The bio-based lubricant exhibited a kinematic viscosity of 200.3 mm²/s at 40 °C and 28.3 mm²/s at 100 °C, meeting the standard conditions as outlined in ASTM D2270-10e1. This lubricant achieved an improved low-temperature performance with a pour point of −22 °C, a friction coefficient of 0.081, and an average pitting diameter of 0.94 mm, indicating its suitability for a range of applications. These lubricants exhibit outstanding viscosity characteristics, meeting the relevant requirements for energy and environmental applications in green, eco-friendly, and biodegradable sustainable development strategies while expanding their application scope.

Lubricating oil plays a critical role in protecting mechanical systems. Driven by sustainable development strategies, the development of high-performance, biocompatible green lubricants has become an urgent industry need. Biomass resources, characterized by wide distribution, renewability, and environmental friendliness, represent ideal raw materials for replacing petrochemical-based lubricants. In this study, renewable Xanthoceras sorbifolia oil was utilized as the feedstock. Branched modification was achieved via ring-opening esterification using 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) as the modifier and tetrafluoroboric acid (HBF₄) as the catalyst. This epoxidation-branching modification process was synergistically combined with Nano-C₁₄MA/MMT treatment. This approach significantly reduced high-temperature kinematic viscosity loss while maintaining excellent low-temperature flow properties, resulting in an Xanthoceras sorbifolia oil-based lubricant with outstanding viscosity–temperature performance and low-temperature fluidity. At a Nano-C₁₄MA/MMT mass ratio of 0.3 wt% of the base oil, the lubricant demonstrated superior wide-temperature performance: KV₄₀ = 424.1 mm²/s, KV₁₀₀ = 50.8 mm²/s, VI = 180.8. The SP was reduced to −43 °C, exceeding the performance requirements of V-class environmentally friendly lubricants (e.g., synthetic ester oils). Furthermore, the coefficient of friction (COF) was 0.011 and the anti-wear scar diameter (AWSD) was 0.44 mm, indicating lubrication performance significantly superior to SN-class lubricants (specifications: COF < 0.12, AWSD < 0.50 mm).