C-S cleavage of dibenzothiophenes with or without steric hindrance by the interface between PtSx and ZnO

Abstract

Desulfurization plays a critical role in refining crude oil to produce fuel and the manufacture of fine chemicals. However, its low efficiency becomes a great challenge for the present desulfurization if only the C-S cleavage is considered a promising approach to reducing hydrogen consumption under atmospheric pressure. Accordingly, we investigate the critical factors necessary to achieve high C-S cleavage of dibenzothiophenes under mild conditions of 0.1 MPa and H2/oil = 100. The mechanism of reactive adsorption desulfurization of dibenzothiophenes with or without steric hindrance at atmospheric pressure on Pt/ZnO is proposed by studying the adsorption model of active metal sites, the Pt efficiency in C-S cleavage influenced by the steric hindrance and the structural evolution of Pt active centers in the presence of sulfur adsorption/deposition. Based on both experimental and DFT results, we report C-S cleavage of dibenzothiophenes with (TOF = 15 h−1) or without steric hindrance (TOF = 128 h−1) that can be highly efficiently fractured (99.9%) by the interface between PtSx and ZnO. This work has great practical significance for developing atmospheric industrial adsorbents for ultra-deep reactive adsorption desulfurization.