Facial synthesis of mesoporous {Mo132}/BiOCl for the efficient oxidative desulfurization of fuel

The Keplerate nanoball iso-polyoxomolybdate {Mo132} supported on BiOCl was prepared and assessed as a green, innovative, and low-cost oxidative desulfurization catalyst for dibenzothiophene-containing model oil (DBT). The XRD, FT-IR, Raman, SEM, TEM, BET, and XPS characterize the prepared catalysts. The optimum operating parameters were identified by evaluating factors such as reaction time, catalyst quantity, oxygen to sulfur molar ratio, and temperature. Experiments indicated that the catalyst was greatly efficient in removing DBT, with a sulfur removal rate up to 100 % at optimum conditions (catalyst dosage = 5 g/L, O/S = 10, time = 180 min, and temperature = 40 °C) utilizing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as oxidizing agent and acetonitrile as extracting solvent. Furthermore, {Mo132}/BiOCl showed high stability and catalytic activity like that of the fresh one after four cycles. ODS activity of the catalyst was evaluated for various thiophenes (thiophene, BT, 4,6-DMDBT, and DBT) derivative and feed at optimum conditions. The proposed mechanism for catalytic oxidation of DBT in the existence of {Mo132}/BiOCl nanocomposite was studied.