Enhancing oxidative desulfurization catalytic performance of metal–organic frameworks UiO-66 (Zr) by post-synthetic with the creation of active sites

Abstract

It is being explored to utilize two types of Zr-based metal–organic frameworks, bimetallic V/Zr-UiO-66 and functionalized UiO-66 by Vanadium (Zr-UiO-66-V), as heterogeneous catalysts in oxidative desulfurization processes. The bimetallic MOFs’ inorganic nodes contain two distinct ions; compared to their monometallic counterparts, these MOFs have a synergistic impact and improved characteristics. Innovative bimetallic MOFs provide additional options for further customizing the attributes of MOFs, which have drawn significant interest for various applications. On the other hand, the functionalization of MOFs further enhances the MOFs’ catalytic activity where V ions replace H+ in the –OH group in the zirconium-based node. Compared to UiO-66 (Zr), these techniques may significantly improve the efficacy of oxidative desulfurization. For the synthesized V/Zr-UiO-66 and Zr-UiO-66-V, having essential properties such as surface area (1287, 1392 m2/gr), pore volume (0.89, 0.93 cm3/gr), removal of DBT in model oil could reach > 91.4 % and > 97.7 % within 2.5 h at 343 K, respectively, which is 1.41 and 1.5 times as much as for parent UiO-66 (Zr). Furthermore, the heterogeneous catalyst displayed excellent thermal and chemical stability, and the DBT conversion efficiency remained > 78.9 % after six recycling cycles. Performance improvement is primarily attributable to the incorporation of active V sites.