Scalable and facile synthesis of V2O5 nanoparticles via ball milling for improved aerobic oxidative desulfurization

Abstract

In recent years, transition-metal oxides (TMOs) have been long employed for aerobic oxidative desulfurization. However, the inherent bottlenecks, such as the low explosion of active sites, limit the application of bulk TMOs catalyst. In this study, V2O5 nanoparticles with oxygen vacancies were prepared in large-scale via facile ball milling strategy with adding oxalic acid as a reducing agent. The as-prepared catalysts exhibit remarkable sulfur removal for oils with different initial S-concentrations and different substrates. Sulfur removal could reach up to 99.7% (< 2 ppm) under the optimized reaction conditions. This work provides a feasible desulfurization strategy for fuel oils.