Unusual nickel dispersion in confined spaces of mesoporous silica by one-pot strategy for deep desulfurization of sulfur compounds and FCC gasoline

- One-pot reduction strategy well-disperse 30 wt% Ni over SBA-15 for the first time.
- Confined spaces avoid aggregation of Ni NPs and preserve support framework.
- Highly dispersed nickel precursor is highly active for generation of Ni0 species.
- Template and silanols in SBA-15 enhance Ni0 and promoted desulfurization activity.
- Our strategy is time and energy efficient for functionalization of Ni-bases SBA-15.

Unusual nickel dispersion in the micro-environment of as-synthesized SBA-15 was achieved for the first time by one-pot reduction strategy. Template occluded SBA-15 was used as a host and Ni(NO3)2·6H2O salt precursor was directly introduced into the micro-environment between the aggregates of template and silica walls. The subsequent one-pot reduction strategy plays three functions in one by decomposing Ni(NO3)2 to NiO, template P123 removal, and reduction of NiO to Ni0. This solvent-free technique is not only time and energy efficient but also well-disperse large amount, 30 wt%, of Ni0 species in mesoporous channels as verified by various characterization techniques. In comparison with traditional strategies, our method is much convenient for N0-based adsorbents, and the yield of N0 is 75% in the case of NiAS-30 derived from as-prepared SBA-15, which is apparently higher than 65% of NiCS-30 counterpart obtained from calcined SBA-15. The synthesized materials are highly active in adsorptive desulfurization of thiophene due to strong acidity and the adsorbed amount over NiAS-30 reach 0.22 mmol/g much better than NiCS-30 (0.12 mmol/g). More importantly, the thiophene capture abilities were recovered without any loss. Convenient synthesis, high activity, good stability and reusability made the present materials highly promising in adsorptive desulfurization technologies.

Functionalization of SBA-15 with nickel precursor via (A) conventional method, (B) one-pot reduction treatment using Ni(NO3)2-Calcine SBA-15 (C) and one-pot reduction using as-synthesized SBA-15 containing Ni(NO3)2.89