Adjusting host properties to promote cuprous chloride dispersion and adsorptive desulfurization sites formation on SBA-15

Deep desulfurization via π-complexation adsorption is a promising method for the purification of transportation fuels. The desulfurization performance of an adsorbent has been proven to strongly depend on the dispersion extent of adsorption active species. In this paper, we report a strategy to promote the dispersion of active species CuCl on mesoporous silica SBA-15 by incorporating alumina. By use of such a strategy, properties of the host SBA-15 were successfully adjusted. The enhancement of host-guest interaction and the improvement of surface hydrophilicity were realized simultaneously. Furthermore, the solid-state ion exchange between CuCl and formed Brönsted acid sites (H⁺) was observed, which leads to the generation of isolated cuprous species. As a result, the dispersion of guest CuCl on the host was efficiently promoted. We also demonstrated that the obtained material, CuCl supported on SBA-15 incorporated with 10 wt % of alumina, can capture 0.240 mmol•g ^-1 thiophene, which is obviously higher than that over CuCl/SBA-15 (0.167 mmol•g^-1). Our materials may provide a potential candidate for application in adsorptive desulfurization.