Zirconia-silica based mesoporous desulfurization adsorbents

We report a series of mesoporous silicate sorbent materials templated by long-chain primary alkylamines that display record level of desulfurization of the jet fuel JP-8. Pure silica frameworks and those with a Si:Zr synthesis molar ratio ranging from 44:1 to 11:1 were investigated. The optimum sorbent was identified as dodecylamine-templated silica-zirconia synthesized from a gel with Si:Zr molar ratio of 15:1. With an optimized silver loading of 11 wt.%, a saturation adsorption capacity of 39.4 mgS g−1 and a silver efficiency of 1.21 molS mol Ag−1 were observed for JP-8. This sorbent displayed exceptional regenerability, maintaining 86% of its initial capacity in model fuel after solvent regeneration with diethyl ether. Low-cost, portable and reusable sorbents for the desulfurization of JP-8 jet fuel are needed to make solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) a reality for military power needs. SOFCs require ultra-low sulfur content fuel, which traditional desulfurization methods cannot achieve.