Boosting aerobic oxidative desulfurization performance in fuel oil via strong metal-edge interactions between Pt and h-BN

Platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) have long been regarded as efficient catalysts for numerous catalytic process, including catalytic oxidation, hydrogenation, etc. For Pt catalysis, tuning the electronic structure for a boosted catalytic performance and exploring a proper strategy for stabilization of the nanoparticles are the two central issues. In this work, we constructed strong metal-edge interactions (SMEI) between well-dispersed Pt NPs and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) support. The charge transfer between h-BN and Pt NPs was carefully studied, and it was found that the charge transfers from B atoms in h-BN to Pt NPs and from Pt NPs to N atoms in h-BN. The SMEI makes the Pt NPs positively charged for a boosted aerobic catalytic desulfurization activity with sulfur removals of 98.3%, 96.5%, 93.7% and 85.9% to dibenzothiophene, 4, 6-dimethyldibenzothiophene, 4-methyl-benzothiophene, and benzothiophene, respectively. Additionally, the aerobic oxidative desulfurization system showed an excellent resistance performance to olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons. The SMEI also gives rise to an excellent stabilization of the Pt NPs without agglomeration after the reaction. Moreover, the catalyst can be recycled 5 times without a significant decrease in catalytic activity. Additionally, both the geometric structure and the SMEI were well investigated to illuminate the structure-activity relationship.