Synthesis and characterization of a new nanocomposite (FeW11V@CTAB‐MMT) as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for oxidative desulfurization of gasoline

Abstract

A new nanocomposite (FeW11V@CTAB‐MMT) was designed on the basis of vanadium‐substituted tungstoferrate (FeW11V) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide‐modified montmorillonite (CTAB‐MMT) as an efficient nanocatalyst for oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of gasoline. The synthesized catalyst was characterized using various techniques. To evaluate the catalytic activity of FeW11V@CTAB‐MMT, ODS was carried out using a mixture of aqueous acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide solution as an oxidant and acetonitrile solvent as an extractant. The ODS results revealed that the removal efficiencies of thiophene, benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene were more than 97% in the presence of the FeW11V@CTAB‐MMT catalyst at 35 °C after 1 h. Kinetics of the catalytic ODS reactions was found to be pseudo‐first‐order. The prepared heterogeneous catalyst was found to be reusable for five runs without a discernible decrease in its activity. The current research provides insight into a new catalytic system for the ODS process for the deep removal of hazardous sulfur molecules from gasoline.