Preparation, characterization and application in deep catalytic ODS of the mesoporous silica pillared clay incorporated with phosphotungstic acid.

Abstract Mesoporous silica pillared clay (SPC) materials with different contents of H 3 PW 12 O 40 (HPW) heteropoly acid were synthesized by introducing HPW into clay interlayer template in an acidic suspension using sol–gel method. Samples with similar HPW loadings were also prepared by impregnation method using SPC as the support. The results of the characterizations showed that HPW was dispersed more homogeneously in the encapsulated samples than in the impregnated samples. The encapsulated materials exhibited better catalytic performance than the impregnated samples in oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene-containing model oil. The sulfur removal reached up to 98.6% for the model oil under the experiential conditions.