Thermocatalytic (trans)esterification of oils/lipids to produce biodiesel is generally energy-consuming, reversible, and controlled by the equilibrium law. Herein, a light-induced photothermal process was illustrated to be highly efficient for biodiesel production (96.8 % yield) from microalgae lipids at room temperature enabled by a biomass-based SO₃H-functionalized graphene-like heterogeneous catalyst (S-NGL-600), as optimized by response surface methodology. Infrared thermal imaging indicated that interfacial solar heating led to forming a local photothermal catalytic system, reaching 72.2 °C in 2 min. The local light heating was conducive to evaporation and removal of water from acid sites, resulting in local excess of microalgae lipids to facilitate the forward reaction. Notably, the photothermal catalyst was highly recyclable and exhibited a significantly higher conversion rate of microalgae lipids than industrially used catalyst H₂SO₄. Life cycle assessment suggested energy-saving advantage (0.87 MJ/MJ) and environmental protection (-89.42 CO_2eq/MJ) of the photothermal-driven protocol for microalgae biodiesel production.

油/脂类的热催化（转）酯化生产生物柴油通常是耗能的、可逆的，并且受平衡定律控制。在此，光诱导的光热过程被证明对于在室温下由基于生物质的 SO _{3启用的微藻脂质生产生物柴油非常有效（96.8% 产率）}通过响应面方法优化的 H-功能化类石墨烯多相催化剂 (S-NGL-600)。红外热成像表明，界面太阳能加热导致形成局部光热催化系统，在 2 分钟内达到 72.2 °C。局部光加热有利于酸性位点水分的蒸发和去除，导致微藻脂质局部过量，有利于正向反应。_{值得注意的是，光热催化剂具有高度可回收性，并且与工业使用的催化剂 H 2} SO ₄相比，微藻脂质的转化率明显更高。生命周期评估建议节能优势（0.87 MJ/MJ）和环保（-89.42 CO _2eq/MJ) 用于微藻生物柴油生产的光热驱动方案。