Highly Efficient Catalytic Oxidative Desulfurization of Gasoline Using PMnW11@PANI@CS as a New Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Nanocatalyst

Abstract

In this manuscript, to obtain a high-purity fuel, a new inorganic–organic hybrid (IOH) nanocomposite (PMnW11@PANI@CS) based on mono-supplanted heteropolyanion (PMnW11), polyaniline (PANI), and chitosan (CS) was synthesized successfully. The synthesized nanocomposite (PMnW11@PANI@CS) was employed as a nanocatalyst in the nanocatalytic oxidative desulfurization (NODS) process. PMnW11@PANI@CS was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–vis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. The elimination of hazardous molecules containing sulfur from real and simulated gasoline was done according to the NODS process. The sulfur compounds in gasoline were oxidized and disengaged effectively under a mild reaction. PMnW11@PANI@CS with nanocatalytic activity was used as a recyclable nanocatalyst in this process. PMnW11@PANI@CS was evaluated in the NODS process using a combination of CH3COOH and H2O2 in a 1:2 volume ratio as an oxidant system. The results were compared with the obtained results of a simulated gasoline oxidation process under the same conditions. Furthermore, the effect of the nanocatalyst, types of oxidation system, dosage of the nanocatalyst, temperature, and reaction time on the NODS efficiency were investigated. Experimental results show that owing to the excellent efficiency of the PMnW11@PANI@CS NODS system, it can be a promising method to attain super clean gasoline.