Deep oxidative desulfurization of fuels catalyzed by molybdovanadophosphoric acid on amino-functionalized SBA-15 using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant

This study reports the usage of molybdovanadophosphoric acid catalyst on amino-functionalized SBA-15(PMoV₂/SBA-15-NH₂) for the removal of sulfur from model oil (dibenzothiophene dissolved in n-hexane). To increase the tendency for adsorption of heteropoly acids, mesoporous SBA-15 silica was functionalized with amino groups by postsynthesis grafting, using 3-aminopropyltrimethoxy silane as the coupling agent. Immobilization of molybdovanadophosphoric acid on pure SBA-15 (PMoV₂/SBA-15) was also studied for comparison and the catalysts were characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods. It was found that the catalysts exhibit high catalytic activities and PMoV₂/SBA-15-NH₂ is more durable than PMoV₂ impregnated on unmodified mesoporous SBA-15 silica. The results may bring about improvement for oxidative desulfurization of transportation fuels.