A PTA@MIL-101(Cr)-diatomite composite as catalyst for efficient oxidative desulfurization

Abstract Developing new materials that can efficiently reduce the level of sulfur contents in fossil oils is a pressing issue due to environmental problems. Polyoxometalates (POMs) have been used as catalysts to remove organosulfur compounds via the process of oxidative desulfurization for a long time. Here, a new catalytic material, POMs@MIL-101(Cr)-diatomite, has been obtained by restricting MIL-101(Cr) encapsulating Keggin POMs into mesoporous diatomite, which can overcome the obstacle about the poor solubility of POMs in the overall nonpolar environment. The catalyst was characterized by N 2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, XRD, IR and XPS. The desulfurization rate could be up to 98.6%, using H 2 O 2 as the oxidant. Furthermore, the catalyst was reused three times with no structure change under crystal analysis.