Facile Hydrothermal Fabrication of Nanocomposite based on natural zeolite and its Application in Catalytic Oxidative Desulfurization of Benzothiophene

H. Khabbaz, Shima; Bagheri, Ahmad; Mousavi-Kamazani, Mehdi

doi:10.22075/chem.2025.38474.2380

Facile Hydrothermal Fabrication of Nanocomposite based on natural zeolite and its Application in Catalytic Oxidative Desulfurization of Benzothiophene

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Shima H. Khabbaz ¹

Ahmad Bagheri ¹

Mehdi Mousavi-Kamazani ²

¹ Department of Chemistry, Semnan University, P.O. Box 35131-19111, Semnan, Iran

² Department of Nanotechnology, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

10.22075/chem.2025.38474.2380

Abstract

In this study, a Mn₂V₂O7/Fe₀.₁₁V₂O₅.₁₆/zeolite nanocomposite was successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method. The zeolite support was surface-modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as cationic surfactant to enhance its adsorption properties and dispersion behavior. This composite was synthesized with a 1:1 ratio catalyst (MnFe2O7/Fe₀.₁₁V₂O₅.₁₆) based on modified zeolite. The final nanocomposite was characterized using FTIR, XRD, and SEM analyses, which confirmed the successful formation of a well-integrated and uniformly distributed Mn₂V₂O7 and Fe₀.₁₁V₂O₅.₁₆ phases on the modified zeolite surface. The synthesized nanocomposite was then applied as a catalyst for the oxidative desulfurization of benzothiophene in model fuel, achieving a sulfur removal efficiency of 53% under optimized conditions. To evaluate the reaction mechanism, kinetic studies were performed by fitting the experimental data to zero-, first-, and second-order models. The results indicated that the desulfurization reaction followed a first-order kinetic model with an excellent correlation coefficient (R² = 0.9385), suggesting that the reaction rate is directly proportional to the benzothiophene concentration. These findings demonstrate that the CTAB-modified Mn₂V₂O7/Fe₀.₁₁V₂O₅.₁₆/zeolite nanocomposite is a promising material for effective fuel desulfurization.

Keywords

Nanocomposite

Hydrothermal synthesis

Kinetic modelling

Catalytic oxidative desulfurization

benzothiophene

desulfurization

Subjects