Polyoxometalate-doped electrospun nanofiber mats as active catalysts for the production of clean fuels under solvent-free systems

Abstract

Electrospun nanofiber mats made of polymeric P(VDF-TrFE) and catalytically active ionic liquid–polyoxomolybdate were successfully prepared and used as heterogeneous catalysts to simultaneously remove the most refractory sulfur and nitrogen compounds efficiently from fuels. The material presented a high capacity to promote sulfur and nitrogen oxidation, as well as the adsorption of the oxidized products. The remarkable performance of the material led to complete desulfurization after 2 h and near complete simultaneous desulfurization and denitrogenation of model diesel in just 4 h under the same experimental conditions. Similar strategies were adopted to avoid catalyst deactivation and active polyoxomolybdate leaching. This allowed the use of the nanofiber catalyst for at least ten consecutive desulfurization and denitrogenation cycles without loss of activity and while maintaining its structural stability.