Ability evaluation of thiophenic sulfurs capture with a novel (MOF-818)-on-(Cu-BTC) composite in the presence of moisture

In view of unstable Cu-BTC could be destroyed by water molecules, causing a significantly performance decrease of adsorptive desulfurization, a (MOF-818)-on-(Cu-BTC) composite was innovatively designed and synthesized to achieve win-win for enhancing abilities of water-stability and desulfurization in this work. We approved that the novel (MOF-818)-on-(Cu-BTC) desulfurizer was achieved through nitrogen adsorption-desorption, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc. Thiophene (Th), benzothiophene (BT), and dibenzothiophene (DBT) capture performances from different simulated fuels in presence of moisture were systematic evaluated by means of batch tests. Further investigations demonstrated that the (MOF-818)-on-(Cu-BTC) exhibited remarkably sulfur capture ability, attributing to associative effects of specific surface area, nanopores, and acid-base interaction. Importantly, this (MOF-818)-on-(Cu-BTC) impressively retained sulfur capacity and its structural integrity even soaked in water for 7 days. Water-resistant ability was accordance with the order: (MOF-818)-on-(Cu-BTC)＞MOF-818＞Cu-BTC. This novel work would provide a new idea for adsorptive desulfurization by MOF-on-MOF in the presence of water environment.