MOF-derived amorphous molybdenum trioxide anchored on nitrogen-doped porous carbon by facile in situ annealing for efficient oxidative desulfurization

Abstract

Electron transfer between supports and metal oxides is of great significance in optimizing the catalytic activity, while this is still an open issue for understanding its real role in the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process. Herein, the defective molybdenum trioxide derived from molybdenum-based metal–organic frameworks was highly dispersed on nitrogen-doped porous carbon (VO-MoO3@NPC) by a single-step carbonization treatment. The uniform integration of organic moieties and the unique porous structure of carbonaceous materials are conductive to the active site exposure and mass transfer process during the ODS reaction. Meanwhile, richer oxygen vacancies are generated due to the weakened Mo-O bonds, which is pertinent to the promoted electron transfer between nitrogen-doped porous carbon and molybdenum trioxide by shrinking the band gap. The results manifest that the obtained VO-MoO3@NPC realizes an extraordinary desulfurization efficiency of 99.1% within 20 min, as well as a stable recyclability of up to 9 times. Furthermore, the catalyst delivers an extremely remarkable turnover frequency of 96.2 h−1, which is far superior to that of previously reported molybdenum-based catalysts. This manuscript provides new inspiration for designing excellent ODS catalysts by introducing electron-rich nitrogen to construct strong metal-support interactions.