BN/ZIF-8 derived carbon hybrid materials for adsorptive desulfurization: Insights into adsorptive property and reaction kinetics

Adsorption of stubborn sulfides from fuels is a feasible desulfurization strategy to obtain clean fuels, however, the exploration of efficient adsorbents to achieve this target remains a formidable challenge. Here, a hybrid nanocomposite comprising carbon-doped boron nitride (BN) and ZIF-8 derived carbon was constructed through a facile one-pot pyrolysis method. Thanks to the hierarchical porous structure and more exposed Lewis acid sites, the obtained adsorbent gave remarkable desulfurization performance for dibenzothiophene (DBT, 35.6 mg S/g), which was superior to that of the state-of-the-art carbon-doped BN reported under similar conditions so far. Moreover, the as-prepared absorbent exhibited impressive adsorptive capacity for 4-methyldibenzothiophene (4-MDBT) and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT). Therefore, the BN-C hybrid materials presented here hold great promise for adsorptive desulfurization, as well as other related fields.

Automated summary

The hybrid nanocomposite exhibits excellent desulfurization performance and impressive adsorption capacity for different types of sulfides, showing great potential for applications in various fields.