Preparation of CeVO4/BNNS catalyst and its application in oxidation desulfurization of diesel oil

Removal of sulfur-containing compounds from fuel oil is one of the effective ways to reduce the emission of harmful substances and is of great environmental importance. In this work, a novel cerium-vanadium bimetallic catalyst supported by boron nitride nanosheets (CeVO 4 /BNNS) is reported for the efficient removal of sulfur-containing compounds from diesel fuel through catalyzing the molecular oxygen in the air. The successful preparation of the CeVO 4 /BNNS catalyst was demonstrated by SEM, XRD, and BET characterization, while its conformational relationship was also revealed. Synergistic effect of CeVO 4 bimetallic oxide together with the strong affinity of BNNS for sulfur-containing compounds achieved the efficient removal of of 4,6-DMDBT (100 %), DBT (99.62 %) and BT (71.29 %) within 3 h. The structure of CeVO 4 /BNNS catalyst remained basically unchanged after six times recycle, and the desulfurization rate maintained above 91 %, indicating a good stability. What’more, the free radical scavenging experiments and the analysis of oxidation products revealed the possible reaction mechanism, i.e., the activation of molecular oxygen by CeVO 4 /BNNS catalyst generated superoxide radicals, which oxidized DBT to DBTO 2 .