Metallophthalocyanine functionalized magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles and its application in ultrasound-assisted oxidation of benzothiophene

• A new sonocatalytic system was developed for oxidative desulfurization of BT.
• The FeC4Pc-loading MSNPs exhibit excellent ODS activity and reusability.
• The combined effect of FeC4Pc, MSNPs and ultrasound is vital for ODS efficiency.

In this study, the preparation and catalytic application of tetra-substituted carboxyl iron phthalocyanine (FeC4Pc)-loading core-shell-structured mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) in oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of fuel oil with the assist of ultrasound were investigated. The morphology and the mesoporous feature of the composite were characterized by TEM, SEM and BET techniques. Linking FeC4Pc to the mesoporous silica shell has been verified to play a positive role in UAOD process. Meanwhile, The influences of ultrasound power, reaction temperature, H2O2:oil molar ratio and the reuse of catalyst on the catalytic oxidation desulfurization were studied. It reveals that the resulting materials FeC4Pc-MSNPs integrate the advantages of mesoporous silica nanoparticles and superparamagnetic characteristics, which exhibited excellent catalytic activity and reusability in UAOD process. Under the optimized conditions: (ultrasonic time 30 min, temperature 60 °C, catalyst dosage of 20 g/L, H2O2/sulfur molar ratio of 20) for the catalytic ODS, the sulfur content in model diesel fuel was reduced from 600 ppm to 33 ppm with 94.5% of total sulfur.

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