Desulfurization of Gasoline using Molecularly Imprinted Chitosan as Selective Adsorbents

For desulfurization of gasoline, novel chitosan-based molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared by cross-linking chitosan with epichlorohydrin in the presence of dibenzothiophene (DBT) as the template. The influence of cross-linking ratio on the specific adsorption was evaluated. The effects of the types and the amounts of porogen on selectivity of the chitosan MIP were also examined. Results showed that MIP has a higher recognition property to DBT. The maximum rebinding capacities of the MIP reached 22.69 mg g⁻¹ in the model solution. The adsorption behaviors of the MIP including adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic parameters were investigated and the experimental data agreed well with the Langmuir model. The dynamical adsorption behaved in first-order kinetics. Negative values for the Gibbs free energy showed that the adsorptions were spontaneous processes. The MIP was further used to selectively adsorb organosulfur from gasoline.