Seyedeh Fatemeh Musavi - Catalysis and nanomaterials research Laboratory, School of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Amin Bazyari - Catalysis and nanomaterials research Laboratory, School of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Seyed Mahdi Alavi - Catalysis and nanomaterials research Laboratory, School of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.

The principal objective of this study was to develop a modified TiO2-SiO2 catalyst by a sol-gel method for oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a refractory sulfur compound of liquid fuels. TiO2-SiO2 catalysts were prepared using tetra-n-butyl orthotitanate (TBOT) as titania precursor and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursor. The oxidation of DBT was performed with tert-buthyl hydroproxide (TBHP) as the oxidant in the presence of the synthesized catalyst and the best result showed 98% desulfurization for the catalyst containing 7 wt% TiO2 (Ti-Si/7). However, DBT removal reduced to 20% in the present of a competitive nitrogen compound.

Oxidative desulfurization, Sol-gel, Titania-Silica, Dibenzothiophene.