Synthesis and characterization of new hybrid inorganic–organic polymer nanocomposite as efficient catalyst for oxidative desulfurization of real fuel

Abstract

Sulfur‐containing compounds are responsible for much air pollution, and therefore eliminating these compounds is of importance. Herein, a hybrid organic–inorganic recyclable nanocatalyst (TBA‐PW11Ni@PANI) was synthesized successfully to investigate its effects on the catalytic oxidative desulfurization (CODS) process of real gasoline/model fuel. To this end, the Keggin‐based mono‐lacunary polyoxometalate [PW11NiO39] was prepared and modified with quaternary cation tetrabutylammonium (TBA). Then, this was further immobilized on polyaniline (PANI) via the sol–gel method. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized using various techniques. The high dispersion of polyoxometalate on PANI was confirmed. Also, it was found that the crystalline structure remained unaltered after immobilization. In addition, the effects of various parameters such as dosage and temperature on the CODS of model fuel in the presence of H2O2–acetic acid (1:2 v/v) were studied in detail. Moreover, the kinetics of the CODS process was also studied and a mechanism proposed. According to the results, TBA‐PW11Ni@PANI showed an efficiency of up to 97% with 0.1 g at 35°C (optimum values) which implies its good catalytic functionality in the CODS process. Finally, the TBA‐PW11Ni@PANI catalyst displayed long‐term stability and good reusability after five runs.