Oxidative desulfurization of fuels at room temperature using ordered meso/macroporous H3PW12O40/SiO2 catalyst with high specific surface areas

Ordered meso/macroporous H3PW12O40/SiO2 nanocomposites with high specific surface areas were prepared using cationic surfactant and monodispersed polystyrene spheres (PS) as dualtemplate. The characterization results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N-2 adsorption-desorption, and small-angle XRD patterns confirmed the existence of ordered meso/macroporous structure and the wide-angle XRD patterns, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) measurements suggested the high dispersivity of the Keggin-type heteropolyacid (HPA) on silica matrix. There was an optimum value of cationic surfactant usage and proper calcination temperature of ordered me so/macroporous H3PW12O40/SiO2 catalyst leading to ultra-high specific surface areas. Furthermore, the ordered meso/macroporous H3PW12O40/SiO2 catalyst was evaluated for ultra-deep oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of cyclic sulphur-containing compounds using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as oxidant. Under optimum reaction conditions, dibenzothiophene (DBT) could be removed within 100 min at 30 degrees C by meso/macroporous H3PW12O40/SiO2 catalyst. The excellent catalytic activity should be attributed to the combination of ordered meso/macroporous architecture and high surface area of H3PW12O40/SiO2 catalyst which promoted the mass transport of reactants and products in the pore channel and provided more accessible catalytic active sites. In addition, the meso/macroporous H3PW12O40/SiO2 catalyst showed good stability with only 1.9% efficiency decreased after 6 cycles. (C) 2018 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.