Synthesis and Performance of Mesoporous Phosphotungstie Acid/Alumina Composite as a Novel Oxidative Desulfurization Catalyst

A series of mesoporous phosphotungstic acid/alumina composites （HPW/Al_2O_3） with various HPW contents were synthesized by evaporation-induced self-assembly method. These composites were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, TEM, FTIR, and UV-vis, and were tested as catalysts in oxidation desulfurization of model fuel composed of dibenzothiophene （DBT） and hydrocarbon, using H202 as the oxidant. These composites exhibited high activity in catalytic oxidation of DBT in model fuel and good reusing ability. The best performance was achieved by using the mesoporous HPW/Al_2O_3 with 15wt% HPW content, which resulted in a DBT conversion of 98% after 2 h reaction at 343 K, and it did not show significant activity degradation after 3 recycles. Characterization results showed that the mesoporous structure of alumina and the Keggin structure of HPW were preserved in the formed composite. These results suggested that HPW/ Al_2O_3 could be a promising catalyst in oxidative desulfurization process.