Synthesis of Cu-doped TiO2 modified BiVO4 for photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization (PODS) of a model fuel

In the present study, a photocatalytic oxidation desulfurization method is used to eliminate dibenzothiophene as one of the aromatic sulfur derivatives in fuel, using a Cu-TiO2/BiVO4 composite. The structure of the synthesized compounds was characterized by FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, XRD, DRS, UV–Vis, BET, TEM, FE-SEM, elemental mapping, EDS, XPS, and ICP-MS methods. To find the best results in this photocatalytic system, different parameters such as type of solvent, the amount of photocatalyst, reaction time, amount of oxidizing agent, reaction temperature, and the ratio of extracting solvent to n-heptane as the model fuel was investigated and optimized. Desulfurization tests were carried out including extraction-absorption test (without H2O2), in the absence of photocatalyst, and test in dark conditions followed by oxidation extraction test. The efficiency of this photocatalytic system for dibenzothiophene removal reached 93% under optimal reaction conditions for the model fuel. The photocatalyst was recycled three times and exhibited good efficiency in dibenzothiophene removal.