Desulfurization of gasoline using novel mesoporous carbon adsorbents

Ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) adsorbents have been prepared using spherical SBA-16 mesoporous silica, as a template. The synthesized materials were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms. OMCs have been tested for adsorption of dibenzothiophene (DBT) as model sulfur compound from gasoline fuels. The OMC showed higher sulfur adsorption due to large mesopore volume and high specific surface area. The results confirm the significance of the adsorbent pore size and its surface chemistry for the adsorption of DBT from petroleum fuels. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to fit equilibrium data for OMC. The equilibrium results were best demonstrated by the Langmuir isotherm.