Coupled one-pot oxidative extractive desulfurization of a model fuel catalyzed by nanostructured-ZIF-67/Biomass-derived activated carbon composite

The simultaneous oxidation and extraction of refractory sulfur compounds, such as DBT, has emerged as one of the most efficient complementary procedures for the HDS process in achieving ultradeep desulfurization of fuels. In this paper, a bio-based activated carbon (AC) obtained from the waste of date palm bark has been utilized as an abundant, green, and low-cost support for synthesizing a stable metal-organic framework, zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67), on its structure to reach a novel nanocomposite catalyst (AC/ZIF-67) for the removal of DBT from a model fuel through the extractive oxidative desulfurization method. The accuracy of the AC/ZIF-67 catalyst formation was comprehensively characterized using XRD, FTIR, FESEM, BET, and TGA analytical techniques. Subsequently, the newly synthesized nanocomposite catalyst was employed efficiently for removing DBT from a toluene solution, acting as a model fuel. The impact of various operating variables, i.e. catalyst dosage, the temperature of reaction, oxidant-to-sulfur (O/S) molar ratio, contact time, initial concentration of DBT, and volume of extraction solvent on the removal efficiency has been thoroughly investigated. The results revealed that employing only 25 mg of the AC/ZIF-67 catalyst could achieve a remarkably high efficiency of around 98 % after one hour oxidation of a 25 ppm DBT solution in the presence of TBHP, followed by extraction using acetonitrile. This was achieved while maintaining a constant temperature of 60 degrees C and an O/S ratio of 20. The obtained results confirm the potential application of ACs for supporting MOF catalysts in various catalytic processes such as desulfurization.