Fabrication of hollow spheres by dry-gel conversion and its application in the selective hydrodesulfurization of FCC gasoline

► Hollow spheres were synthesized from MCM-41 solid spheres by dry-gel conversion. ► Hollow spheres are between 500 and 600 nm with a dense shell of ca. 100 nm. ► Water amount has a major impact on hollow sphere formation. ► The hollow sphere was effective as support for minimizing the olefin hydrogenation.