Preparation and characterization of nanocomposite of graphitic carbon nitride and TiO2 as a porous support for nano catalyst for desulfurization process

A novel heterogeneous nanocatalyst H3PW12O40/TiO2/g-C3N4 (PW/TiO2/CN) was successfully synthesized by immobilization of PW on TiO2/CN nanocomposite, and characterized by SEM, BET, FT-IR, XRD, EDX, TEM and ICP. Catalytic performance of the as-prepared catalyst was investigated for the selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and sulfones in the presence of H2O2 as oxidant with good conversion and high selectivity. The main factors influencing the ability for selective oxidation of sulfides were studied, including reaction temperature, amounts of the catalyst, H2O2 and type of the reaction solvent. Catalytic oxidation of the different model oils containing dibenzothiophene (DBT), benzothiophene (BT) and thiophene (T) into corresponding sulfone was also studied. Effects of different extractive solvents, aromatics, alkenes and nitrogen compounds on the oxidative desulfurization processes (ODS) were also studied. In addition, reducing the level of sulfur content in real oil was investigated. The recyclability of the PW/TiO2/CN nanocatalyst for various cycles without a significant loss of activity was proved. The heterogeneity of the as-prepared catalyst was confirmed by leaching tests.