Preparation of CeVO4/BNNS catalyst and its application in oxidation desulfurization of diesel oil

Removal of sulfur-containing compounds from fuel oil is one of the effective ways to reduce the emission of harmful substances and is of great environmental importance. In this work, a novel cerium-vanadium bimetallic catalyst supported by boron nitride nanosheets (CeVO4/BNNS) is reported for the efficient removal of sulfur -containing compounds from diesel fuel through catalyzing the molecular oxygen in the air. The successful preparation of the CeVO4/BNNS catalyst was demonstrated by SEM, XRD, and BET characterization, while its conformational relationship was also revealed. Synergistic effect of CeVO4 bimetallic oxide together with the strong affinity of BNNS for sulfur-containing compounds achieved the efficient removal of of 4,6-DMDBT (100 %), DBT (99.62 %) and BT (71.29 %) within 3 h. The structure of CeVO4/BNNS catalyst remained basically unchanged after six times recycle, and the desulfurization rate maintained above 91 %, indicating a good sta-bility. What'more, the free radical scavenging experiments and the analysis of oxidation products revealed the possible reaction mechanism, i.e., the activation of molecular oxygen by CeVO4/BNNS catalyst generated su-peroxide radicals, which oxidized DBT to DBTO2.