Facile preparation of cuprous oxide decorated mesoporous carbon by one-step reductive decomposition for deep desulfurization

Deep desulfurization of fossil fuels has always been an urgent demand for environmental protection in fossil energy utilization. So, developing simple preparation method for adsorbents with high activity and low cost is always the goal of adsorption desulfurization. Cu-based materials are attractive pi-complexation adsorbents owing to their high-cost performance. Here we report the fabrication of cuprous oxide-modified mesoporous carbon by a one-step thermal treatment at relatively low temperatures. In this method, the mesoporous carbon not only provides a stable platform but also acts as a reducing agent to promote the reaction of the Cu precursor. The impregnated Cu(NO3)(2) precursor was transformed to the cuprous oxide by carbon-assisted reduction and decomposition at a much lower temperature (below 300 degrees C) without the requirement for an additional reducing agent. The resulting Cu2O-functionalized mesoporous carbon exhibited high surface area with 567 m(2) g(-1) and the benzothiophene capture ability reach 0.47 mmol g(-1), which is significantly greater than those reported for Cu2O-modified mesoporous silicas. Furthermore, the majority of the adsorptive desulfurization of this material could be recovered over 90% after five recycling trials. This strategy has three advantages: one-step preparation at low temperatures, a high desulfurization capacity, and good reusability.