Catalytic decomposition of dibenzothiophene sulfone over K-based oxides supported on alumina

A series of K-based oxide catalysts supported on aluminium oxide (γ-Al2O3) with different surface areas were synthesized using an impregnation method and investigated by the decomposition of sulfones from oxidized diesel fuels. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, CO2-TPD and HR-SEM methods to explore the relationship between the structure of the catalysts and sulfone conversion. The results showed that the K element was highly dispersed on the surface of γ-Al2O3. The prepared catalyst was further applied in the decomposition reaction of dibenzothiophene sulfone (DBTS) to evaluate the catalytic performance. The sulfone conversion could achieve 63.9% in 10% K2O/3-Al2O3 within 20-minute reaction time at 260 °C. Moreover, our experimental test showed that the sulfone conversion was linearly correlated with the logarithm of the total basic sites of the K2O/γ-Al2O3 catalyst.