Tungstophosphoric acid supported on nanoSiO 2 catalyst for the alkylation of 2-ethylthiophene with vinyltoluene in the crack C 9 fraction

The alkylation of 2-ethylthiophene with vinyltoluene in the model crack C 9 fraction over tungstophosphoric acid supported on four solids (SiO 2 , nanoSiO 2 , TiO 2 and nanoTiO 2 ) was investigated. It was found that tungstophosphoric acid supported on nanoSiO 2 exhibited excellent catalytic performance in this desulfurization process. These catalysts were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, BET, NH 3 -TPD and TGA. The results showed that both the acidity and the textural properties of the catalysts had significant influences on the catalytic performance. Moreover, the influence of catalyst loading was also studied. Meanwhile, the reaction parameters, including the reaction temperature, the catalyst dosage and reaction time, were optimized.