Novel and simple one-pot method for the synthesis of TiO2 modified-CMK-3 applied in oxidative desulfurization of refractory organosulfur compounds

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) 2018-08, Vol.226, p.498-507
• Main Authors: Rivoira, Lorena P., Ledesma, Brenda C., Juárez, Juliana M., Beltramone, Andrea R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Benzothiophene; DBTs; Direct synthesis; ODS; Short time; Thiophene; TiO2
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.04.054

[Display omitted] •The novel method of synthesis reduces time and cost by 60% avoiding the use of the expensive hard template.•Direct titanium incorporation into the CMK-3 framework improved Ti dispersion.•Well dispersed Ti-nanoparticles were active for ODS of DBTs.•High activity and stability.•The catalyst retains its activity after several catalytic cycles. Ti-CMK-3 carbon mesoporous was prepared using a novel synthesis method. This new method avoids the hard template synthesis used commonly. The precursors of silicon, carbon and titanium are incorporated together with the other components during the only step of the synthesis. The method developed here, allows reducing time and energy consumption by 60% and thus, the cost of the overall process of synthesis. Structural and textural characterization of the titanium modified-mesoporous carbon was performed by N2 adsorption, XRD, UV–Vis-DRS, XPS, Raman spectroscopy and TEM. The characterization results indicated that the textural and structural properties of the material synthesized by the short time method are comparable with the properties of the material prepared by the hard template method. Ti modified-mesoporous carbon was synthesized by different methods in order to prepare catalysts to be tested in the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of sulfur compounds. The catalyst prepared by the one-pot method is capable to oxidize high amount of sulfur (2000 ppm) in only 30 min of reaction time at 60–80 °C. The good performance and stability of the catalyst prepared using a novel synthesis method was attributed to well dispersed anatase nanospecies over the high area mesoporous carbon. Main advantage of the present study is the reduction of time and cost in the synthesis of the new material and the applicability for ODS reactions.