Oxidative Desulfurization Of A Model Liquid Fuel Over An Rgo-Supported Transition Metal Modified Wo3 Catalyst: Experimental And Theoretical Studies

The XW/rGO compounds (XW = Co or Ni modified WO3) have has been utilized as catalysts in the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process of a liquid model fuel containing dibenzothiophene (DBT). Various characterization methods were carried out to complete evaluations of the prepared catalysts. Moreover, using the GC-MS method, it became clear that the final product of the process was dibenzothiophene sulfone (DBTO2). Furthermore, results showed that under the optimized conditions (oxidant to substrate molar ratio = 6, 75 degrees C and catalyst to substrate molar ratio = 0.08), the DBT content of a model fuel was declined by 100% only within a reaction duration time of 45 min using the CoW (20)/rGO catalyst. Also, the results obtained from the DFT study revealed that, for an efficient reaction over the surface of the catalyst, along with the S center dot center dot center dot O chalcogen interaction, the strength of the H-bonds interactions (H center dot center dot center dot O) between the DBT and active sites on catalysts may have tuned-up the driving force of the reaction. Ultimately, the results indicated that the charge transfer at the XW/rGO interface may be tuned by selecting impurity used alongside the WO3 species.