Preparation and characterization of SiO 2-WO 3 mixed oxides and its catalytic performance in oxidative desulfurization of benzothiophene

The SiO 2-WO 3 catalysts were prepared by the sol-gel method and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, BET and TG-DTA. The effects of active element, preparation method, n(W)/n(Si) and calcination temperature on the desulfurization performance of SiO 2-WO 3 were investigated by using H 2O 2 as oxidant and the benzothiophene (BT) as model compound. The results showed that the introduction of W into SiO 2 sample led to the decrease of its surface area. The predominant phase of W in catalyst was WO 3.The SiO 2-WO 3 catalyst prepared with W as active element, calcination temperature of 500°C and n(W)/n(Si) of 0.1 was found to have optimal desulfurization performance. With SiO 2-0.1WO 3 as catalyst and under the conditions of model oil 20 mL, catalyst 0.04 g, n(H 2O 2)/n(S) 15.9, acetonitrile/simulant oil volume ratio 0.3, reaction temperature 65°Cand reaction time 60 min, the desulfurization ratio of BT model oil reached 99.3%.