Adsorptive removal of dibenzothiophene from model fuels over one-pot synthesized PTA@MIL-101(Cr) hybrid material.

Hybrid nanomaterials comprising phosphotungstic acid (PTA) and MIL-101(Cr) were prepared through one-pot synthesis and post-modification methods and then were used as adsorbents of dibenzothiophene (DBT) from simulated diesel fuels. Samples obtained by different ways (encapsulation and impregnation) were characterized by nitrogen adsorption, transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR) and series of adsorption experiments. The equilibrium adsorption capacities of PTA@MIL-101(Cr) illustrated that the direct introduction of PTA into MIL-101(Cr) during synthesis resulted in a 10.7% increase compared with MIL-101(Cr). However, porous hybrid adsorbent PTA/MIL-101(Cr) prepared via post-modification method exhibited lower adsorption capacity than virgin MIL-101(Cr). The theoretical maximum adsorption capacity (Q0) of PTA@MIL-101(Cr) is 136.5mg S/g adsorbent, 4.2 times of MIL-101(Cr). Even in competitive adsorption between aromatic compounds, which possess strong affinity with MOFs, and DBT, PTA@MIL-101(Cr) and MIL-101(Cr) remained their effectiveness in removal of DBT in the system. Based on these results, it can be presumed that MIL-101(Cr), modified properly, can be used as a promising adsorbent for eliminating aromatics and S-compounds in commercial fuels simultaneously.