Boosting adsorptive desulfurization of hydrocarbon fuels by CuFe2O4-grafting ZIF-8 magnetic nanocomposite as an efficient and recyclable adsorbent

A highly efficient adsorber, CuFe2O4-coupled zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) nanohybrid, has been fabricated for adsorptive desulfurization of model fuel (dibenzothiophene (DBT in n-hexane)). Several characterization methods were used to determine the chemical and physical-chemical properties of the prepared CuFe2O4/ZIF-8 (CFZIF) nanocomposite (XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDX, XPS, VSM and BET surface area). Effects of different experimental factors on the absorption efficiency of CFZIF nanocomposite have been studied, including DBT concentration, contact time, CFZIF adsorbent dosage and temperature. The synthesized virgin ZIF-8 and CFZIF samples showed high surface areas (1690.6 and 1137.8 m2/g, respectively). The CFZIF nanocomposite exhibited a DBT absorption uptake (88.3 mg/g) higher than that of bare ZIF-8 (73.1 mg/g). Furthermore, the equilibrium isotherm and kinetics of DBT adsorption were studied. The Langmuir model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model showed an agreement with experimental data. The adsorption uptake of regenerated CFZIP nanocomposite was virtually unchanged and showed excellent stability after five adsorption cycles.