Facile synthesis of amphiphilic polyoxometalate-based ionic liquid supported silica induced efficient performance in oxidative desulfurization

As strict regulations of fuel specifications implemented, oxidative desulfurization process (ODS) is considered as one of the promising technologies to achieve deep desulfurization under mild conditions. Herein, amphiphilic polyoxometalate-based supported silica [C4mim]3PW12O40/SiO2 was successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process and employed in ODS process. The composition and structure of obtained hybrid samples were characterized by means of FT-IR, XPS, Raman, 31P MAS NMR, UV–vis, wide-angle XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption and SEM. The experimental results indicated that the as-synthesized materials maintained the integrity of architecture of polyoxometalate-based ionic liquids (POM-based ILs), which were finely dispersed into the silica matrix. Besides, the sample [C4mim]3PW12O40/SiO2 possessed moderate hydrophilic–hydrophobic balanced surface leading to higher sulfur removal. Moreover, the effects of the amount of catalyst, H2O2/DBT molar ratio, temperature, types of sulfur-containing substrate on the sulfur removal were also investigated in detail. Under optimal conditions, dibenzothiophene (DBT) could be completely removed in 30 min.

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